


We're In Over Our Head

by Eevee_133



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Adventure, Established Relationship, F/M, Fantasy, Magic, Other tags to be added, Romance, Time Travel, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2018-10-09 01:05:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10400310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eevee_133/pseuds/Eevee_133
Summary: DiscontinuedDuring the Twilight Era of Hyrule, the hero, Link, teamed up with a Twili imp known as Midna in order to save Hyrule from an ever growing evil.In the modern era, Link is two months away from graduation with the highest grades in his year. He received a full scholarship to a college near Hyrule Castle and he is fully prepared to spend the rest of his life with his girlfriend; ___.However, things don’t always go according to plan.





	1. I

Link struck the final blow against the Twilit beast that took residence in the Zora’s temple, watching as it swam madly in its arena. The fish monster soon rammed into a wall near the floor of the arena, the force of the impact created a crack and water rapidly drained into it while the beast lay limp in front of it.

                Link remained near the monster as the water drained out, soon being able to stand on solid —and muddy— ground. It’s eye erupted, a heart container shooting out, landing a few feet away from the hero. Like the other Twilit beasts, the fish creature was covered completely in black before exploding, leaving behind black squares only to come together to form the last Fused Shadow.

                Link held his hands out as the Fused Shadow floated above his hands, Midna coming out of his shadow as she had done previously.

                “There it is! The last Fused Shadow…” she said in tone that Link could nearly identify as relief. An orange hand formed from her ponytail reached out to grab the fragment of dark magic, causing Link to rest his arms at his sides. “I’ll just take that, thanks! Now, don’t resent me for all I’ve put you through. I _NEED_ this thing!” when Link said nothing in response, Midna continued. “Besides, we have to do something about Zant, the one who thinks he is the king of shadows… His power is a false one… I’ll prove it using these!” Midna’s hand retracted back into her head, showing the shadow grey form of her hair once more. She looked elsewhere. “So… I’ve done everything I needed to. I’m sorry for dragging you all over the place with me…” she floated further to center of the arena, although not too far away, and opened a portal, most likely leading back to Lanayru’s spring. “So… Shall we go?”

                Before heading to Midna, Link picked up the heart container, feeling himself be rejuvenated and feeling better than he had before entering the temple. As he walked towards his companion, he figured that this would the last he sees of her… He returned light to Hyrule, his hero job is done and Midna seemed to hint that she would confront Zant herself.

                All that’s left for Link to do is return to Kakariko village and help Ilia regain her memory. He hopes that ___ will find a spell that will do just that. But even when he asked her about it, she refused, stating that minds are fragile and should not be tampered with, especially if they no experience in that area of magic. But maybe she made some advancement with the others… even a little.

                Link approached Midna, stopping just short of the portal. “Midna…” when she hummed in response, Link continued. “Take care of yourself.”

                Due to her shadowed figure, Link couldn’t tell what of expression she wore. He did however see her visible eye widen slightly before returning to their original roundness. She didn’t say anything in response to what he said. “Want to go outside? Are you all done here?”

                Seeing as he won’t get any more out of her than that, Link nodded. Midna returned to act as his shadow before the hero stepped into the provided portal.

                As he guessed correctly, Midna’s portal led to Lanayru’s spring. With no words offered to Link, he was ready to leave. He turned away from the spring, only to stop with a surprised gasp as he looked up at a figure dressed in dark robes and adorning a disturbing silver mask that also dubbed as a helmet. He didn’t know who this figure was but he assumed that this person was Zant and he knew was that every fibre of his body was telling him this person was not to be taken lightly.

                And yet he couldn’t find it in him to move.

                On his peripheral vision, he could see the familiar blue lines glow on the            roots emerging from the water. He flinched lightly as he felt wind caused by the spirit brush against him. Knowing that the spirit was at his back comforted Link.

                Zant however, hardly responded to the sudden appearance of Lanayru. Zant then released a wave of magical energy, effectively knocking Link out.

                With the spirit defeated and their light stolen, Twlight reigned over the province once more, forcing Midna out and Link to take on his beastial form.

                “Why is he here?” Midna thought as she looked up at the “king of shadows”. She glared at him. “Zant!”

                The twili released a startled cry as she felt invisible restraints pull her back, hanging her above the spring. Zant passed by Link, seeming to not bother with the light dweller. Midna’s eyes widened in panic as Zant took the three Fused Shadows she and Link collected.

                “Did you honestly mean to take an ancient and withered power like this and turn it against me?” he asked. “You are a foolish traitor, Midna. Why do you defy your king?”

                “My KING?!” Midna responded, enraged. “You, who do nothing but abuse the magic of your tribe? You must be joking!”

                “How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is… our old magic?” Zant chuckled. “Now _that_ is a joke!” Using his ability, Zant dragged Midna back to the earth before slamming down into it. “This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twlight, and you _will_ respect it!” Zant glanced over at Link. “Ah… that reminds me.”

                Midna’s eyes widened in panic as Zant lifted Link’s unconscious body. “Don’t touch-” her argument was cut short when she was forced into the ground again. “Link!”

                She watched helplessly as Link was encased in a red crystal and teleported away once crystallization was complete.

                “Link…” she thought.

                She didn’t have time to dwell over the recent event, Zant wouldn’t have allowed it. Once more, she was brought to Zant.

                “My Midna… Did you forget? That beast is one of the light dwellers who oppressed our people,” Zant began. “No matter how much you may desire otherwise, you will never be more than a shadow in their world. You cannot consort with their kind!”

                “As I am now, of course I can’t!” she thought angrily. As Zant continued to banter, Midna thought up a plan. “Flee from Zant, I’ve done it before and I can do it again. If I can get to Kakariko village then I can find ___. I can teach her my tribe’s magic and she can fight Zant. She has potential… Although I don’t know how much I can teach her in my current state…”

                Hearing that Zant finally concluded his rant, Midna shrugged out of her invisible binds, landing a few feet away. She stared back at Zant, waiting for his next move.

                “So be it… I will return you to the light world you covet!” Zant exclaimed, coming to a conclusion.

                Once held up by the invisible bonds, Midna was dragged forward. She gazed in fear as Twilight dispelled and the spirit Lanayru appeared in what Midna could only assume was fury.

                How unfortunate that fury was directed at the wrong individual. Unable to take on a shadowed form, Midna was forced to the full brunt of Lanayru’s light. She cried out in agony as she felt her body weaken and then disappear.

 

                Zelda gazed out her window in curiosity. Hyrule was freed of Twilight, she had Midna and Link to thank for that but recently, Twilight returned. Only to have light rule over once more… it puzzled the imprisoned princess to be honest.

                “The storm is getting worse,” she thought as she thunder rumble overhead.

                Her attention was taken away from outside when a bright light emerged in her room. She turned around to see what it was. Her eyes widened at the sight of Midna, laying on her side; she looked very sickly… even her helmet was affected.

                “Midna!” Zelda cried out in surprise, rushing to the twili’s side.

                Midna panted, eyes barely opened as she looked at Zelda. The hylian princess gently took one Midna’s hands in her own.

                “Where… where is Link?” Zelda questioned gently as she mentally prepared herself to heal Midna.

                “Ta-taken…” Midna responded quietly.

                “I see…” Zelda said as her body began to glow.

                Midna looked over herself then at Zelda, panicked. “Wait… what are you doing?! Stop!”

                “Midna, you must survive,” Zelda argued as she fed her energy into Midna.

                Soon after, Zelda released her grip on Midna, needing to lean her weight against one of her arms to keep herself steady. She panted lightly, exhausted and weak from giving most of her life force to Midna.

                Midna stood upright in perfect health once again. He looked over Zelda, worry taken over her expression.

                “I will be alright,” Zelda assured her. “We must figure out a plan now…”

                Midna looked away briefly, before looking back at Zelda. “There’s a sorceress in Kakariko… she has potential to becoming incredibly powerful. I can-”

                “Unfortunately Hyrule is plagued by an evil that only be defeated by a specific power… and only the hero chosen by the goddesses can possess it.”

                “Then maybe she can go rescue Link.”

                “I fear it would take too long to teach her magic strong enough to match Zant.”

                Midna lowered her gaze, feeling the hope drain from her. What do they do now…? It isn’t as if they can find another hero chosen by the goddesses…

                Or can they?

                Link is, admittedly, a handsome man. And ___... well Midna can clearly tell that ___ and Link have something going on even if neither of them can see it.

                “What about future chosen heroes?” Midna asked Zelda.


	2. II

Link awoke suddenly as his alarm blared throughout his room. He blinked sleepily as he blindly hit his alarm, trying to get the snooze button. Except he knocked his digital clock off his bedside table and it didn’t get unplugged. Link groaned in annoyance as he leaned over the side of his bed, reached for his clock and pressed the snooze button before placing it back on the bedside table. He looked at the clock to read the time; 5:02 am.

                The seventeen year old blond male rolled onto his back and yawned. He stretched his arms before relaxing his body and blinking rapidly. He reached over to grab his phone and turn it on. As he waited for his phone to turn on, Link got out of bed then reached over to switch on the lamp.

                Checking his phone, he was on his lock screen that he had two messages from his girlfriend; ___. Both messages were sent recently. Not wasting any time, Link unlocked his phone to see what she wrote.

 

                                 Sweetheart  <3

                                          Thu, 04/13/2017

                                                 Good morning babe! ^_^ I hope you slept well… by which I mean I hope you didn’t                                                                                                                                                stay up too late studying… You already got a scholarship. Relax!

                                                               5:01 am

                                                               

                                                  Well I’m going back to sleep… See you in a bit. Love you <3

                                                               5:03 am

 

 

                Link smiled at the texts she sent. She doesn’t need to but she goes out of her wary to greet him in the morning… However he’d rather she called him, he liked hearing her sleepy ramblings, and it was one of the things he looked forward to whenever she stayed overnight.

                Setting his phone on his desk, Link dressed in clothing he doesn’t mind getting dirty; he’ll be taking a shower later anyway. After getting dressed, Link headed out to the stables, meeting up with his twin younger sisters; Malon and Romani, in the process.

                He admired their tenacity to wake up so early to help out around the farm despite being ten years old. Although to be fair, Link started helping out at around their age too. And much like him, they were taking care of the cuccos.

                “Good morning,” Link greeted.

                “Good morning!” Romani greeted ecstatically with an enthusiastic wave of her arm.

                “Morning…” Malon mumbled, yawning and rubbing one of her eyes. “Are you going to the stables? Cremia is there too.”

                “Not surprising,” Link thought. “She recently got herself a horse.”

                Like Link, his older sister Cremia has a personal horse and insists on taking care of the stallion herself. However, unlike Link, Cremia’s horse was bought while his horse, Epona, was born on the farm.

                “Really?” Link hummed. “I guess I’ll be seeing her there then… Are mom, dad and Ingo up?”

                “Uhm…” Romani rested her hands on her hips as she her brows furrowed in concentration.

                “Mr. Inigo went to where the cows are,” Malon answered. “I saw mommy in the kitchen…”

                “I guess dad’s still asleep?” Link questioned.

                Malon and Romani exchanged a brief look between one another. Romani looked back at Link with a small grin. “Yup!”

                Link sighed, not entirely surprised. “Anyway, I should be going.”

                “Okay bye,” Romani responded while Malon yawned once more.

                Leaving the twins to attend to the cuccos, Link headed for the stables. Just as he arrived, he spotted Cremia leading an isabella colored horse out of the stable. Spotting him, the orange haired twenty year old paused, making the horse perked their ears in interest.

                “I’m taking to the horses out to the field, can you start cleaning the stalls?” she asked.

                Link nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

                Doing as his sister asked, Link headed into the stables then directed towards the first empty stall he saw. Or he would have, if his horse hadn’t distracted him. Epona always seemed to have a sixth sense of where Link was. Seriously, once Epona somehow made her way across Hyrule during an overnight school trip.

                Greeting Epona and taking a brief moment to pet her, Link returned to begin his tasks. Despite knowing that school starts at nine, Link still needed time to shower, change, eat breakfast and pick up ___.

                At around seven, or at least Link assumed it was, Cremia dismissed him to go get ready for school. Entering his house, the unmistakeable scent of waffles and freshly baked cinnamon rolls wafted through the air.

                “Go take a shower before coming to eat,” he heard his mother’s voice from where he assumed was the dining room.

                Link groaned before shuffling off to his room to grab a change of clothes.

 

 

                “Is there anything else I’ll need?” Midna asked Princess Zelda.

                “No, I have already told you what to retrieve and I informed of the location of the Master Sword,” Zelda answered, taking a steadying breath. “You must leave, quickly!”

                Midna looked at the hylian princess with hesitation. “I can take you with me. You’ll be safe-”

                “Midna if I leave, my people will be executed one by one… go to the magic user you spoke of. Her powers combined with the energy I left with you and aid from a nearby spirit will allow you to open a time gate and retrieve a future hero,” despite the explanation of her plan, Zelda noticed lingering hesitation within Midna. “Have no fear; the spell will leave you weakened and fatigued but you will recover. Now go!”

                Midna nodded at Zelda, seeing that she can’t change the princess’ mind. “I won’t fail you.”

                With no more words exchanged, Midna teleported out of the castle, emerging in front of Hyrule Castletown. Midna looked back at the castle, most notably; the spires, where Zelda was hidden away. The twili’s eyes widened at the diamond shaped barrier forming over the spires of the castles. Midna’s surprise quickly turned to anger. Why imprison Zelda even more? She refused to leave when she had the chance!

                Keeping her goal in mind, Midna calmed herself and turned away from the castle. She flew off towards Kakariko village to find ___. Hopefully Link’s magic using ~~girl~~ friend is still there.

 

 

                “Any special plans for today?” Link’s mother questioned the blond male as she looked at him over her mug of coffee.

                Link paused as he glanced over to the red haired woman. Swallowing what food he had in his mouth, he debated saying anything… but knowing his mom, she’ll find out one way or another within a span of five minutes.

                “Well, uhm…” Link paused, drumming his fingers against the surface of the table. Seeing her son speak up, Link’s mother leaned forward in interest, hands holding her mug of coffee. “I… I’m going to ask ___ to marry me.”

                Link’s mother stared at him. “You’re seventeen.”

                “Yes I know, but-”

                “You’re not even out of high school yet.”

                “Right, howev-”

                “How much do you _really_ know this girl? I know that the two of you have been dating for two years but you spent that time in high school without any worry adults experience. Do you really think you can spend the rest of your life with someone who is still growing as a person?”

                He knows that his mother means well. But… “I know that we’re really young but… I love her _so_ much. I just… _know_. When you were dating dad, have you ever thought that he was-”

                “If the next words you are going to say are ‘the one’, I’m going to have to stop you there,” his mother released a sigh, thumb running over the porcelain material of the mug.  “Trust me Link, I adore ___. Romani and Malon love her too. Talon thinks she’s a nice girl and Inigo… well Inigo hates everyone. But…” she sighed, leaning back against her seat. “You don’t really know a person until you either start living with them or be in a life or death situation… that later relates to me more but who knows,” she got up and walked towards Link. “At least talk to ___ before doing something life changing,” she kissed Link on the temple before picking up his empty plate.

                “Yes mom…” Link looked at the time. It was almost a quarter after eight. “I’ll start heading out now.”

                “Be careful! Tell ___ I said hi!”

                “Will do!” Link called back as headed to his room to pick up his bag.

                As Link picked up his bag, he paused at his door. He looked back at his desk, where the ring he bought was hidden away in an effort that ___ doesn’t find it. He walked towards his desk, took the small velvet box out of its hiding space and opened it to reveal a white gold ring with a small moissanite crystal. He gazed at it for a moment before coming to a decision.

                Closing the box, Link put the box into a pocket in his jacket before leaving.


	3. III

Link arrived at ___’s house and didn’t even need to get out and retrieve her before she got out, carrying a plastic container in one hand while her bag hung on her shoulder.

                “Hey there,” Link greeted when she opened the door on the passenger side. “What’s that?” he questioned once she was settled into the seat, placing her bag on the floor momentarily.

                “Six red velvet cupcakes,” ___ answered with a sigh and leaned back against the cushion chair.

                “What’s with the sigh?”

                “You know that my cousins and their parents came over last night?” when Link nodded, she buckled her seatbelt before continuing. “So we kind of went nuts and made a few dozen of the cupcakes… some were eaten freshly baked. Later that night, we debated on how to split the rest. Some were given to my brother and sister and my parents because theirs didn’t want any.”

                “So…?”

                “Needless to say; I have never played a more intense round of Mario Party.”

                “Pff…!” Link gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, stopping himself from bursting out into laughter. “Mario Party? You can’t be serious.”

                “There’s a reason why I haven’t responded to your texts yesterday. Oh my Goddess Link, there were _so_ many hits below the belt. I was going to start a fist fight with one of them.”

                “That bad?” Link knew that it took a lot to get ___ angry enough to the point of physical violence. “Did you win at least?”

                ___ snorted. “I lost by _one freaking coin._ ”

                At that, Link started to laugh.

                “Stop laughing! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Link didn’t even need to look at her to know that she was pouting.

                “I-I’m sorry,” Link apologized but still chuckled. “That’s hilarious.”

                “Hmph.”

                Stopping at a red light, Link looked at his girlfriend. ___ was looking out the window, no doubt with her cheeks puffed out in annoyance.

                “Hey,” Link called. “___, sweetheart?” she lifted her shoulders in an attempt to hide herself. “Aww don’t be mad… I’m sorry, forgive me?”

                When ___ lowered her shoulders and looked at Link, he tilted his head to the side while giving her a light pout with his best puppy dog eyes. He knew full well that she couldn’t argue against him with this expression.

                ___ groaned. “Don’t look at me like that. Look at the road!” and yet, Link persisted. “Link, stop! You’re going to block the road if you keep this up,” despite her complaints, she was smiling. “Okay fine! I forgive you!”

                Link grinned victoriously, settling back into the driver seat just as the light turned green.

                “Someday I’m going to become immune to that.”

                “Mhmm, that’s what you always say.”

                “Shush! Do you want a cupcake or not?”

                “Yes please. Although give me one once we get to school.”

                “You mean now?” ___ asked just as Faron High came to view.

                “Okay, I meant once we’re both out of the car.”

                After parking the car, ___ informed Link that there was going to be an assembly in front of the Goddess Hylia statue. Seeing as it was fifteen minutes until nine, they both decided to put their stuff in their lockers later. While Link left his things in the car —except his keys and the ring— ___ carried her things with her.

                “How did I not hear about this?” Link questioned as he linked his fingers with ___’s while they walked towards the statue.

                “Maybe you should pay attention to school announcements,” ___ offered.

                “___, you should know how my history class is…”

                “I’m surprised anyone passes that class.”

                “Yeah, but barely.”

                “Except you,” ___ moved closer to Link. “Because you’re super smart and responsible.”

                Link smiled softly at her comment, his free hand in his jacket pocket. He ran his thumb over the velvet box. “You’re smart and responsible too.”

                “When it comes to mythology, the ancient hylian language and the arcane; I am top notch. Regular school work? Eh, not so much.”

                “You have pretty decent grades.”

                “Miracles.”

                Link sighed. He wished she wouldn’t degrade herself like that. She’s a lot smarter than she realises.

                When the Goddess statue came in view, Link and ___ saw rows of chairs lined up in the shade of the statue. There were a fair number of students sitting in the chairs. He assumed that individual sections were assigned to homerooms.

                Link led ___ up to the statue, both standing at the base. There were several students sitting around as well, talking to their friends.

                “Oh that reminds me,” ___ released Link, now holding the container of cupcakes in two hands. “Do you want one now?”

                Link shook his head. “No its fine, I can wait,” while ___ nodded and looked elsewhere, Link fingered the box containing the ring. He took a deep breath. “___...”

                “Yeah?” she looked back at him.

                Link wet his lips, a wave of unease washing over him. He knew that ___ was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with but…

                The blond male swallowed before continuing. “There is something really important I need to ask you.”

                “I’m sure that its not _that_ serious,” ___ joked. But upon seeing Link’s unchanging expression, her humour dropped. Almost as if she suddenly sensed the gravity of the situation. “Oh… I’m sorry, please continue.”

                “Thank you. Uhm…” Link took a deep breath. “___ I-” his eyes widened in surprise when ___ looked… different. She looked… duller, with less color. “_-___?” he reached out to her, terrified for her. Then he caught sight of his hand, a golden light emitted from it.

                The same was said about his other hand. He stared wide-eyed. Next he looked over his entire body; golden light again. Link looked back at ___, her expression didn’t change. Almost as if she didn’t notice what was happening to him.

                What _was_ happening to him?!

                He became even more frightened when the ground was no longer firm beneath his feet. He twisted around in an effort to free himself.

                And just like that, everything went dark.

               

                “He’s alive, good,” someone spoke. A woman, Link identified. “I feared this spell would have killed him…”

                “Killed him?” someone else spoke. The voice was feminine but… it sounded mature yet child-like at the same time. “I was more concerned about the spell working at all.”

                Spell… they were talking about a certain spell. Is that what happened to him…?

                Link groaned, feeling returning to his body.

                “He’s waking up,” the former female said. “That’s pretty quick all things considering.”

                Link opened his eyes with some difficulty. He blinked several times to get his vision cleared. The first thing he noticed was the ceiling; brown, dusty… was he in a cave? He folded his arms to life himself on his elbows. Gritting his teeth at the feeling of how heavy his body was, he sat up. A wave of dizziness hit him, causing him to fall forward.

                “Easy,” the woman said as someone caught him, easing him back up.

                Link looked at a hand resting on his upper arm. It was (s/c) and was wearing a dark blue fingerless glove. His blue eyes trailed up the arm, seeing that the blue glove was in fact a sleeve. He spotted long strands (h/c) hair spilling over what he assumed was a royal blue scarf. Finally seeing who this person was, it was as if all drowsiness left him.

                The young male snapped to full attention and backed away from this woman. She… she was a duplicate of ___! Upon taking a closer inspection Link can see that this “___” was older, maybe by three or four years and her hair was a shade or two lighter along with being a different length and style.

                “I know that you are confused and more than likely scared,” “___” began. “But believe me when I say we don’t mean any harm.”

                “‘We’?” Link voiced.

                “I’m the other half of that,” a white and dark blue creature floated next to the ___ look-alike. She must have been the second woman.

                Link looked over her curiously. She was… floating. She looked like some sort of imp with glowing blue marking over her body, glowing bright orange hair and she wore some sort grey helmet with a missing eye piece.

                “Who are you?” Link asked, looking between the two women.

                “My name is ___,” so her name is also ___ “and my companion is Midna. Currently… you are in the past.”

                “The past?” Link thought as he stared at ___. If he’s in the past then… he clenched his teeth. “Why…?”

                “Pardon?” ___ questioned.

                “Why did you bring me to the past?!” Link snapped at her, causing her to flinch back and widen her eyes. Even Midna was taken aback by his sudden outburst. “I… there isn’t any reason for me to be here!” Link gripped his hair in frustration. If he can’t be sent back then… everything he has done up to this point; school, family, his girlfriend... it will have been for nothing. “Damn it…”

                “Link…” he heard Midna call. He glared at the mythical imp creature. “We didn’t bring you here for no reason.”

                “What reason could make this situation any better?”

                Midna clenched her teeth and her fist. “Hyrule is in danger! And _you’re_ the only one who can do something about it!”

                Link gasped while ___ remained indifferent. “What… do you mean?”

                ___ gripped the material of her skirt. “The Link of our time… he’s been captured. I… don’t have enough power to go after his kidnapper. Not to mention that if I spend all my time learning magic, everything our Link did up until the point of his capture would have been reset… maybe Hyrule would be worse off too.”

                “Not to mention that the only who can actually defeat this evil is the Hero chosen by the Goddesses,” Midna continued.

                “How can you be so sure that I’m this ‘Hero’?” Link asked.

                “To be quite honest, the resemblance is uncanny,” ___ answered. “Except for the fact you hair is lighter… and you have a more youthful appearance,” she stood up and held a hand out to him. “Please. We have no one else to turn to.”

                Link swallowed the saliva built up. A hero? They had to be joking… He was just a kid with an undecided future. The most he had to worry about was remembering his and ___’s anniversary and what his grades are. And yet… this feels familiar. Being told to save his country from evil felt like something he’s done before.

                He reached out and grabbed ___’s hand, allowing her to pull him up to his feet.

 

 

                The last thing you remember before passing out suddenly was Link wanting to ask you a question. From the look on his face, it was pretty important.

                When you woke up, you were confused to fell stone and tufts of grass beneath you. Did anyone come help you? Link would have called an ambulance or rushed you to the nurse’s office. Steadily, you stood up, noticing that you were missing your bag. You looked around you and you realized that the world appeared… pale. There wasn’t a lot of colour and people weren’t even around. They were… humanoid shapes- blurbs would a more appropriate word, and looked like they were made out of cotton.

                You cautiously walked around, wondering what in the world was happening. Walking around the campus, you soon realized that there was a lack of wind aside from your own breath. You swallowed nervously. You really hope you haven’t ended up in some sort of Silent Hill situation…

                Then you heard a noise… it… the noise reminded you of chimes but… with some sort of electronic tune to it? Or default magic sounds you hear in movies. The later was more plausible.

                You looked towards the sound and saw a ball of green light with bits of emerald green flowing out of it. The ball seemed to have noticed you staring and moved up and down rapidly, releasing noises that sounded like high pitched bells. Next it flew off.

                You gazed after it in confusion and awe. Was that… a fairy? Fairies used to be somewhat rare sight in Hyrule but nowadays most people consider them to be mere fairytales.

                Throwing caution to the wind, you decided to follow after the fairy. It seems to be the only thing that moved and possess full colour aside from you. Maybe it knows what’s going on. The fairy was aware of you following it and seemed to even expect you to continue, stopping at certain moments.

                Suspicion began to rise within you when the fairy led you into Faron Woods. Where was it even going? Soon enough, you lost sight of the fairy. Standing in place, you looked around and saw nothing more that trees, bushes and rocks. No green fairy in sight. Did it lead you into the forest in order to get you lost and die?

                You couldn’t think of the question for long when you heard the bell-like noise again on your left. Turning your head in that direction, you spotted the fairy. Seeing that it has caught your attention, the fairy continued. Not wanting to lose sight of it again, you began to jog, careful to not trip over roots or loose rocks.

                Eventually, you reached a broken stone archway covered in moss. You blinked in surprise… you never saw this before. You’ve been on hikes with Link before but never came across something like this. You stepped through the arch and found yourself at a raised level. You spotted the fairy dancing at the center of the ruin. Cautious that this ruin was very old, you carefully made your way down. You approached the fairy, which was now just flying in place. Stopping only two feet away, you reached out to the fairy, only for it to disappear.

                You gasped, pulling you hand back. You looked around you, searching for any sign for the fairy. You didn’t find one.

                You heard groaning behind you, making you jump and turn around. Your eyes widened as you stepped away when a giant blue-grey gear suddenly formed with two other gears. Although those two seemed to have been cut off.

                “What is that?” you wondered as the gears began to turn, causing a loud noise as the gears moved. “Where did it even come from?” Despite your mind telling you not to approach the gear, you felt… drawn to it. Almost as if the gears were inviting you. “I wonder if the fairy meant to lead me to this. Even if it did, what for?”

                You took several steps towards it, standing in front it. The surface of the gear was reflective which allowed you to see a mirror image of yourself. Lifting a hand up, you touched to surface of the gear, only to see ripples form from your touch. You moved your hand further inside, seeing your hand easily be swallowed by the gear.

                “This thing is going to kill me,” you thought.

                And yet, you walked into it.


	4. IV

               When you entered the gear, you felt as if you were falling. But… you fell at a constant speed; gravity had no effect on you. The space around you was rays of white and blue, almost resembling sky moving at high speeds. Soon enough, a white light shone brilliantly, effectively blinding you. Next, you felt your feet touch solid ground. You blinked, regaining your eyesight.

                Your momentary peace was short lived when you found yourself pressed back and held against what felt like a stone wall. You gasped as you stared at whoever held you. Your eyes widened in surprise when you stared at a face similar to yours.

                She looked older, hair a slightly different colour and different length and style. But skin tone was the same. From what you could see, she had a more fitted and curved body with a different bust size. The next thing you spotted from this look alike was that an orange ball of —what you could call— energy, floated above her free hand.

                “___!” you heard an extremely familiar voice call out.

                “Link?/What?” both you and your lookalike turned to the source of the voice; your boyfriend.

                You and your mirror image stared at one another in surprise. The two of you even share the same name? Her surprise vanished sooner than yours, once again taking on an expression of hostility.

                “That’s my girlfriend,” Link stated, placing a hand on the other ___’s shoulder.

                She looked at him. “How can you be so sure? For all we know, she could be a disguised monster sent by Zant.”

                “I doubt Zant would know what we are up too,” a black and white floating imp creature spoke up, making you gasp in surprise. “Even if he did, I don’t find it possible for him to have made something like this. Her appearance is a coincidence… or she was also pulled in by the spell.”

                The ball of energy in your lookalike’s hand dissipated after thinking over the imp’s words. She looked you over before cautiously releasing you. She backed away to stand next to the imp.

                Link approached you with a smile. You returned it then stepped towards him, enveloping him into a hug. He gladly embraced you, squeezing you gently and burying his face into your hair.

                “I thought I wasn’t going to see you again,” he spoke into your locks. He placed a long kiss on the crown of your head.

                You stepped back, looking up at him with a smile. It soon dropped. “Do you know what’s happening?”

                “Ah…” Link frowned a little. “We’re… we’re in the past.”

                “What?!” you exclaimed in surprise. “B-but how… how is that even possible?!” your mind turned to what you experienced minutes prior. If you could experience that… time travel doesn’t seem very far-fetched.

                “It is possible using high levels of magical energy,” your past self(?) answered, making you and Link look at her. “However, my target was Link… how did you find your way here?”

                “The spell could’ve dragged her into it too,” Midna assumed.

                Your look-alike shook her head. “The spell required specifications; I couldn’t have pictured myself in the future, or a mirror image of myself, living at the same time as a different Link.”

                “When Link and I arrived at the Hylia Goddess statue… I fell unconscious then woke up in a grey world,” as you began, Midna, Link and ___ directed their attention to you. “Next I spotted a green fairy —at least I think it was one— and I followed it through Faron Woods. It eventually led me to a ruin where these… giant gears appeared out of nowhere. I walked into one and… here I am.”

                “You… walked into one?” Link questioned.

                You nodded.

                Link chuckled, holding one of your hands and ran his thumb over it. “You’re lucky you aren’t in a horror film.”

                “No… am I the person who would’ve died because of a stupid decision?”

                “Mhmm,” Link hummed with a nod.

                “Aw man…” you frowned.

                “Excuse me?” ___ called, attracting both your and Link’s attention. “I’m certain you two are having a very stimulating conversation but Hyrule is still in peril.”

                “Peril?” you asked.

                “Oh, right she wasn’t here when we explained the situation to Link,” Midna said before telling you what’s happening; this era’s Link was kidnapped and ___ can’t go rescue him, the only one who can stop the ever-growing evil is the Hero chosen by the Goddess, which is Link. So, they found a spell to bring a future hero to their time and that’s where your Link comes in. As for you specifically… well no one knows why you’re here.

                “Zelda told me that there’s a sword located deep within Faron Woods which no evil can touch,” Midna continued. “Apparently the hero is the only one who can wield it.”

                You looked at Link. “Look at you, being able to use an all-powerful weapon.”

                “Yes… but can you actually use a sword?” Midna questioned. “Or do you have some training in sword combat?”

                “I’m actually pretty flexible with all sorts of weaponry,” Link explained. “Its as if…” he paused, trying to find the right word. “Its as if I can use anything I get my hands skillfully.”

                Midna and ___ looked at you for conformation. “It’s true. I’ve seen him use all sorts of things as if he was using them his whole life.”

                ___ and Midna looked at one another before nodding. Midna floated towards the two of you. “I can warp us to an area in Faron Woods as a starting point but… it is possible you will turn into a wolf.”

                “What?” Link was taken aback.

                “That’s what happened with era’s Link. When he was exposed to Twilight, he turned into a wolf… that’s also where Zant caught him. But at least I have his equipment; you won’t only have a sword.”

                “That’s good…” Link nodded, releasing your hand. “If there isn’t anything else, I think we should get started.”

                “Agreed,” you seconded.

                “On what?” ___ questioned.

                The three of you looked at the older woman. You and Link shared a look before you answered. “To go to Faron Woods…?”

                “And what can you do, exactly?” ___ rested a hand on her hip.

                “Uhm…” you fidgeted in place.

                ___ sighed while closing her eyes. She took a moment to herself before opening her eyes again. “If you can’t contribute to combat, you’ll only be getting in the way.”

                Well… she had you there. You don’t know how to fight… hand to hand or with a weapon or otherwise.

                “So she’ll be staying here?” Midna asked. “Seems like a waste of bringing her here,” she hummed while placing her hands behind her head.

                “Well let’s say that she is my descendant or my reincarnation,” ___ began. “That would mean that she has some sort of pull to magic that would allow her to learn quickly.”

                Midna stared at her for a long moment. “That sounds completely stupid.”

                “Well how do you think I got so good at such a young age? Most mages practice for decades to reach my level.”

                “How does your head feel?” Midna floated to ___, patting her head. “Not too big?”

                ___ swatted Midna away with a huff, making the imp giggle in response. The scene brought a chuckle out of you and Link too. “Anyway,” ___ spoke up. “While Midna takes Link to get this scared sword, I’m going to teach you magic… and some form of physical combat if we have time.”

                Your eyes lit up at the proposal. “Really?!”

                ___ blinked, clearly not expecting your enthusiasm. Although she quickly recovered. “Magic is a lot harder to learn than you think.”

                You nodded, your excitement having not depleted in the slightest. How could you not be excited? You were going to be taught magic! Actual magecraft! It was a dream come true.

                Link chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive her for being a little too excited… she’s been reading a lot about the arcane. Oh that reminds me, is there another name we should call you? I feel like the two of you will get mixed up when someone calls your name.”

                Both you and ___ looked at one another. She was the first to speak up. “I suppose so. Link calls me ‘little mage’.”

                You let out a chuckle. “Funny, my Link calls me that too.”

                ___ stared at you for a long moment. “Am I the only one who got chills crawling up their back?”


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry for the late update.

After a brief thought over the issue, your other self-dubbed herself as Lotus, named after her favorite flower. Once that issue was resolved, you gave Link a quick kiss before wishing him luck and watching in awe as he and Midna teleported away.

                Lotus wasted little to no time to putting you to training. It had barely been five seconds since Mdina and Link left before Lotus sat you both down… first you had to wield some form of raw magical energy so you had an idea of what it felt like to manipulate something created from it. However you also had to be careful to not draw out so much magical energy because you wouldn’t be able to control it… and you would end up hurting yourself.

                “What was the type of magic you summoned when you had me pinned to the wall?” you asked as you dropped your hands into your crossed legs.

                “You mean this?” Lotus questioned as she lifted a hand and a glowing orange sphere of energy appeared in her hand. It looked like a small sun was floating above her palm now that you had a closer look. When you nodded, she continued. “The same thing you’re trying to create; raw magical energy. While it does take up quite a bit of mana, it’s a lot more powerful than any other kind of magic… Well,” she diffused the sphere “among my book of spells anyway.”

                “What kind of magic do you know?”

                “Focus,” she scolded, making you raise your hands and position them to appear as if you were holding some sort of large spherical object. “Deep breathes, direct your energy to between your hands. It should feel as if some invisible wind is brushing throughout your body and towards your hands. You will feel this sensation most prominently from the center of your upper back. That was the case for me, although I suppose it could be different for everyone.”

                Following her instructions, you took a deep breath and stared at the space between your hands, trying to “direct your energy”… whatever that meant. Moments passed by with no results. You were ready to drop your hands when you felt something spread from between your shoulders blades. It was brief and soft, barely passing over the balls of your shoulders. You gasped, losing your concentration. Lotus noticed your reaction and gave you a small smile, knowing that you felt what she described. Now all that was left to do was draw more energy.

                Quickly taking a deep breath once more, you worked on directing your energy. This time, the sensation came more quickly. First it was brief, barely brushing over your shoulders. Next it traveled towards your left arm, reaching your elbow before dispersing. The following sensations came in bursts from various parts of your body, heading towards your arms before steady streams of this wind brushing sensations finally reached your hands. Moments later, you saw a brief glitter of light appear.

You didn’t lose focus, taking in the possibility that it could have been a trick of light. The glitter of light expanded into a sphere of indigo energy. You smiled happily, looking at your teacher. “I’m doing it!”

                “Good, now maintain that as long as you can,” Lotus said in response.

                Nodding in response, you looked back at the sphere in your hands, seeing it waver. You focused on it once more, this time making it a little larger, almost the size of a golf ball. You took a deep breath and tensed your body, finding yourself struggling to maintain it.

                “Relax, no man or woman became talented on their first try,” Lotus said. Doing as she said, you relaxed yourself, releasing the tension and the ball of energy remained as a smooth sphere, hardly any disruptions at all. “Magic requires a calm mind. Getting more and more agitated will only make the spell die out or harm the mage and use more mana than necessary. Now, try to make it a little bigger.”

                Your training consisted of maintaining a certain energy level, take a short breather and repeat. After what felt like an hour, Lotus decided that you deserved an actual break. You let out a loud sigh if relief as you were sitting in the same position that whole time.

                “By the way, where are we?” you asked as you followed Lotus out of the cave.

                She looked at you. “Oh… I guess I never told you,” standing to the side, she gestured in front of you. “Might I welcome you to Kakariko Village?”

                You looked at the village in front of you. The buildings were made of metal, except for the dome shaped house closest to you, with dead trees and red stone earth. You looked to your right to see a body of water. You walked towards it. You were surprised to see what looked like a spring with very clean water.

                “That is the spirit, Eldin’s, spring,” Lotus explained as she walked up to you.

                “Spirit?” you asked, looking at her.

                “Hyrule has four spirits watching over us, each residing in a different province; Eldin, Lanayru, Faron and Ordona. Each of them hidden within a spring, such as this one.”

                “Wow… so all that’s true? I read stories about these sorts of things but… I never imagined them to be real.”

                She gave you an amused. “My world is very different from yours it seems,” she tossed her head to the side. “Come, I will need to introduce you to everyone,” when she saw the questioning look on your face, she continued. “I can’t exactly hide you, now can I? Not to mention that a few children living here are nosy, they would’ve found you soon enough. And if you’re worried about what I will tell them, not to worry; I have a story in mind.”

 

 

                It was… quite something, the feeling of being teleported. Well, not the act of teleportation itself seeing as he experienced it several minutes beforehand. It was quite something, feeling his body turn into 2D black squares in one place, only to come together as a whole in another.

                The first thing Link noticed was that he was on all fours…

                What?

                Link looked down and saw that where his hands should have been, he saw paws, white paws to be specific. Link cried out in surprise… yelped. He yelped in surprise. His body jerked around, feeling his claws dig into the dirt beneath him as well as his tail swishing. He turned his head to see that he in fact, had a tail.

                “What is going on?!” Link cried out mentally.

                “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he heard Midna speak in front of him.

                Link jerked his head forward, ears pointed. He stared at the floating imp in front of him, silently demanding answers.

                “No need to worry, the Master Sword will change you back… hopefully,” she said, making Link whine and ears droop. “Hey, there’s no need to pout. If anything, we can always go visit one the Light Spirits and have them change you back. That’s how it was with the other Link.”

                Okay… Link had some hope.

                “Now then,” Midna flew over Link and he gasped at the sudden weight on his back. He looked back at Midna. “We should get going.”

                Link turned his head back forward and started to learn how to walk… there’s something he didn’t expect to learn again. It was rather awkward for to get used to walking on all fours but he managed.

                Once he finally got used to moving around in a wolf’s body, he finally took the chance to look at his surroundings. It looked like he was in a forest. Was it… Faron?

                “Got used to your new body?” he heard Midna question, making him look back at her. “Good. We have to go deeper in to find the Master Sword. Let’s get a move on, hero.”

                “Hero,” Link thought as he began to trot ahead. “I hardly am one… what heroics have I done to deserve such a title? It was this era’s… ‘me’ that did most of the work. I’m just taking over until we get him back.”

                Link pushed the sour thoughts to the back of mind to instead focus on leaping over chasms and land to ensure that he didn’t fall to his death. Once that was done, he had to jump onto bridges that changed directions with the strong winds. After that, he then had to walk over tight ropes while large logs held up by strong vines swung from side to side.

                “Did my possible past-self have to go these kinds of things as well?” Link thought as he tried to calm his fast beating heart once he was on safe grounds.

                Once he calmed his heart down–and the imp on his back urging him onward–he walked into another, darker, part of the forest. Upon entering, Link immediately felt the need to be cautious of his surroundings. This area of the forest was rather beautiful; lush grass, tall and healthy dress and streams of light peeking through the trees. He was always taught the looks were deceiving so he didn’t trust his surroundings for a moment, especially when it had a fog-like atmosphere that made it look darker than it already was.

                Midna hummed in wonder at her surroundings before addressing Link. “I’m sure you already know this but… don’t let your guard down.”

                Link took several steps forward and spotted some sort of stone structure with a hole in the ground. With his sharp hearing, Link heard some sort of noise coming it.

                “Hey, that’s a howling stone,” Midna said. “Exactly like the one you passed by.”

                “I passed by something like that?!” he cried in thought. “How could I not notice?!”

                Standing in front of the stone, he heard some sort of melody coming from it. He sat down and closed his eyes. By removing one of senses, he enhances another; his hearing.

                The melody he heard sounded nostalgic and… close to his heart, almost as if it reminded him of something dear. And yet… he never heard this song before.

                Before he even realized it, he howled with the melody. That sense of nostalgia came in full force as he did so. If… if he was a reincarnation of this era’s Link, that would mean he would retain unconscious memories from him. Maybe his body is reacting this way because a past life knew this song?

                He stopped howling when he heard a giggle. Snapping to attention, he spotted a small creature in orange, carrying a lit lantern and what he could only describe as some sort of instrument. He stood up, tensed his body and curled his lips back in a snarl.

                The creature blew into its instrument, the sound it emitted resembled a note from a trumpet, and three wooden puppets descended from the trees. Their heads snapped up and raised their arms. They moved as if they were controlled by strings. The sight brought a chill up Link’s spine. If his past life paid witness to this, then it’s no wonder puppets of all kinds put him off.

                The creature giggled and vanished, however Link spotted him appear in front of a stone wall that slowly vanished from sight. Once the wall was gone, the creature ran off, leaving him and Midna with the puppets.

                Link growled and pounced with a loud bark.


	6. VI

As it turned out, Link and Midna became unwilling participants in a game of hide seek… as well as a hunt. The puppets still came out of nowhere to attack them. Link could only ever find the little creature from the sound of it playing its trumpet. Each time Link found it, had to attack it. And each time he did that, the creature let out a brief cry–killing the puppets in the immediate area–then giggling and vanishing to re-appear in front of a path and run off to another part of the forest.

                The game finally ended when Link was led to some sort of clearing with several large moss covered rocks here and there. After defeating the… whatever the thing was called, it disappeared.

                _“Hee hee hee! …Bye!”_

                Link spun around, trying to locate the high-pitched voice. When he couldn’t find it, he felt Midna tug on his fur to grab his attention. Turning his head, he saw a stone wall disappear from view. Sharing a brief glance with his companion, he headed towards it.

                Walking through the archway, it felt as if Link was sent to an entirely different place. While there were still trees and moss in view, it was overshadowed by the crumbled stone walls and structures. Did he walk in a ruined building?

                Link looked down, seeing that he was standing on what he guessed was balcony and it was safe to land, he jumped down. Upon landing, Link’s ears pointed up upon seeing two giant bronze, rusted statues wielding halberds. Between the two, there was a large tile that contained a triforce.

                He walked towards the statues and passed them but faltered upon seeing a stone door blocking his path except this one held the royal’s family’s crest instead of being blank. Link tilted his head. So now what?

                “Maybe you need to do something with that tile?” Midna guessed.

                Link turned around to look at the tile then turned his head to look at Midna.

                “Expect the unexpected,” was her simple response.

                Shrugging off her response, Link approached the tile, soon standing on top of it. He turned around to face the two statues then sat down and… howled the same song that summoned the gremlin-like creature.

                Upon completion, everything around Link went black, leaving only the two statues visible. The triforce briefly glowed beneath him and white squares appeared and duplicated themselves several times. Once that was done, the squares lit up before disappearing and Link was brought back to reality… except that the only floor available was where the squares ended up, creating platforms.

                Now, most people would be panicking now but Link felt calm for some odd reason.

                What did alarm Link however was the statues suddenly having glowing blue lines and possessing the ability to move. Both statues leapt up, one landing two platforms in front of him and the other two behind.

                _“We are the guardians of this land…”_ the one in front spoke.

                _“Guide us to where we once stood,”_ the other one said. _“Only then can you enter the true Scared Grove…”_

                “Guide us to where we once stood?” Link thought as he looked around, noticing two platforms standing out from the rest. He supposed they meant to those platforms.

                 Not really sure how to begin, Link turned his body to the left, noticing the “guardians” moving as well. One followed his direction while the other turned in the opposite direction.

                Oh… it was one of these puzzles. Puzzle solving was a habit of his and he took pride in being very talented at it. This would be another piece of cake, if it wasn’t for the unseen consequences should he fail or the seemingly bottomless pit below him.

                Before jumping to any platform, Link ran mental simulations of how to solve this puzzle. He went through many different scenarios–much to Midna’s impatience–that ended in him cornering himself or accidently having a statue jump on him.

                He eventually came across a solution then proceeded to test it out in real time; left, down, right, right again, left, up, up once more, right, down twice, right and up again. He felt pride upon seeing the guardians land on their tiles.

                The guardians spun on their tile and slammed their halberds into the ground, making the stone door open, revealing a staircase.

                _“Go now to the scared place, best. We yield passage to the Sacred Grove…”_

            “That must be where the Master Sword is,” Link thought as the floor returned and the statues no longer had glowing blue lines. With no more obstacles, Link pressed on.

            Trotting through the newly revealed passage, Link and Midna emerged into a clearing, containing only a single sword in a pedestal. Link walked towards the sword, soon being close enough to make out details; the blade was brilliant silver, the handle was purple, gripe wrapped in green bindings and the cross guard looked a pair of wings with a gold diamond shaped gem on it.

            Link felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity with the sword.

            He stopped walking as soon as he stood in front of it, wondering what to do next. Does he draw it with his jaw or…?

            Link’s ears twitched in interest when the sword began to emit a white light. It glowed brighter and brighter until the gem shot out its own brilliant light. The “shot” actually felt as if Link was being pushed back. Midna certainly felt it too as she cried out in surprise and thrown off his back.

            The young hylian stood his ground against the sword, glaring it down. He let out a bark as if to say “I am your master, you will obey me.”

            Going unnoticed by Link, his own body glowed as well until white light took over both Midna and Link’s sights. When Link came too, he noticed that he was standing on his own two feet. He grabbed the Master Sword by its grip and pulled it out of its pedestal. Holding it in his left hand, Link raised the sword, seeing the light from the sun glint off the edge. He gave the sword a few swings before sheathing it on his back, as if he had done this a million times before.

            “The sword accepted you as its master…” Midna said then floated over to hover in front of him. “See? I told you the Master Sword would fix your problem,” she said with a giggle that Link thought suited the imp. “However, it is going to be problem for when you turn into a beast whenever I warp you,” she said with a thoughtful hum. “Hmm… maybe your girlfriend can figure something out. Or your past life’s girlfriend, seeing as this era’s ___ is more talented.”

            Past life…? So Link really is the reincarnation of this era’s Link!

            And… Link and Lotus are together?

            Link felt his heart skip a beat at the thought of him and ___ being soulmates.

            Speaking of ___, Link wondered how magic training was going…

 

            You cried out when you felt yourself be launched through the air and then grunting when you landed in the spring. You quickly sat up, coughing up whatever water happened to flow down the wrong tube. Soaking wet, you wiped water away from your face as you glared at your teacher.

            Lotus steadily sauntered towards you with an open tome floating alongside her. She stopped at the edge of the spring, water barely brushing against her boots. She crossed her arms beneath her bust as she spoke “Don’t give me that look; you’re the one who got too cocky after only one week of training.”

            You stood up, feeling water seep out and your clothes sticking to you like a second skin. All you knew was that walking was going to suck.

            Your own tome–thinner than Lotus’–floated towards you, soon stopping to hover at your right side. With more practice, the tome will arrive to you a lot faster.

            Grumbling, you wadded out of the water. Once you were out you shook your feet, trying to remove as much water as you could. It wasn’t much; it still felt as if you were standing barefoot in a puddle.

            “That was _so_ cool!” you heard Talo cry out as he ran up to the two of you. “It was like bam! Pow! Whoosh! And then you went flying and…”

            You listened to young boy go off on what he just witnessed. He seemed to be very enthusiastic about witnessing the use of magic. But seeing as he and Lotus came from the same village, wouldn’t he have seen her practice magic?

            “I want to learn magic!” you heard Beth cry out.

            When did she arrive?!

            “Me too!” Talo exclaimed in agreement as both boy and girl sauntered up to Lotus, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

            “Talo, I thought you wanted to be a warrior?” Lotus asked, amused as she closed her tome and grabbed it, holding it while it rested on her forearm.

            “Yeah but…” the child trailed off.

            “Talo, you’re way too excited to learn magic,” Beth said, as a matter of fact. “You need patience and stay calm.”

            “You don’t have any of those!”

            “Neither do you!” Beth screamed him and stomped her foot on the ground.

            “Okay…!” Lotus got between them and pushed them away from one another. “Talo,” she looked at the kid “weren’t you adamant about being a watch guard?” when the brunette boy nodded hesitantly, Lotus continued. “So… shouldn’t you be at your post?” realization suddenly overcame the young boy’s face as he turned and ran further into the village. “As for you,” Lotus looked at Beth. “Why don’t you go talk to Ilia? I’m sure she would appreciate someone to talk to.”

            “Umm… okay,” Beth said and walked towards the white dome house.

            “Good,” Lotus straightened her back and placed her free hand on her hip. She looked at you. “You will need a change of clothing, yes?”

            You plucked your tome out the air before following Lotus to her temporary residence, annoyed at the water in your boots. You were thankful for Lotus lending you her own clothes so you didn’t stick out like a sore thumb… despite them being loose in areas and a little tight in others. You were however; thankful at the fact the two of you had the same foot size. You can handle tight clothes but not tight shoes or boots.

            “You are advancing far more quickly than I anticipated,” you heard Lotus comment as she hung your wet clothes near a fire and you were changing into a new pair of clothing.

            “Oh yeah?” you responded, pulling a navy blue tunic overhead and smoothed it down over your tan undershirt and brown pants. Your past self really liked the colour blue. ‘Weren’t you the same? Seeing as you’re so talented?”

            “I worked with plenty of theory before doing anything practical,” she answered as you stepped around a wooden panel that served of your wall between her and you. She handed a pair of slightly worn brown leather boots. “Even then, I wasn’t given the freedom to develop my skills like you do. It was… very confining, if that’s a word I can use to describe the way I was taught. Not to mention that I haven’t had many opportunities to learn on instinct.”

            “Instinct…? Oh…” you remembered your earlier fight where you somehow created a shield when she launched a ball of magical energy at you. Walking over to your tome, you picked it up and opened to a random page. The dual pages were revealed to be blank but after a moment, images, diagrams and words written in black ink faded into view, revealing how to summon a shield.

            _“What is this?” you questioned Lotus as she gave you a brown book with a clear dome gem in the center of the cover and silver plating on the corners._

_“Your personal spell book,” she answered. “An invention of mine.”_

_You looked at her skeptically. “Not to burst your bubble but books were invented way before you were born.”_

_She scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “This book is entirely different. Here, take a look at mine,” she reached behind her and pulled out a rather thick book shortly after. The book resembled yours except the gem was orange instead of clear. “This book holds a recording of every spell I know. It automatically records whatever spell you learn and,” she dropped it, only for the book to hover in place, gem glowing and it opened “it connects with you mentally, showing a spell you want to use.”_

_You stared in awe as instructions to create a ball of magical energy._

_“So… this imprints on me?” you raised the book up, holding it with both hands._

_“That is one way to describe the process I suppose…” Lotus scratched the side of her nose._

            “She really wasn’t kidding…” you thought as you stared at the writing. You looked at the woman who was now serving as your teacher who had gone back to your wet clothes to adjust them. “This ‘me’… she’s incredible. I wonder if I can live up to expectations,” you closed the tome and held it close to your chest. You dropped your chin down to your chest, looking down at the metal panels beneath your feet. “Why was I brought here if she’s so strong? Lotus and Link could easily go out and get this era’s Link.”

            You were brought out of your thoughts when you heard Talo shouting. Without looking at Lotus, you immediately bolted for the door following closely behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to puzzle solution; https://www.zeldadungeon.net/Zelda11Guardian.php


	7. VII

Link was reluctant to become a wolf again but he was left with little choice when he couldn’t leave the Sacred Grove on foot. So Link was once more on all fours and transported away.

            When Link re-appeared, he gasped when he felt Midna suddenly drop on him. Looking over the rusted village, Link walked forward in search of the two ___s. Maybe they have some alternative way to revert-

            “MONSTER!!” Link jumped at the sound of what he could only describe as a child yelling. “Everyone run and get inside quick!”

            Link looked around, seeing no monster in sight until it registered that _he_ was the monster.

            “I need to find ___ and quick,” he thought. “But how am I going to do that when the whole place is on lockdown?”

            “Oh look, they’re coming to us,” Midna announced, bringing Link’s attention elsewhere and sure enough, he watched as Lotus and ___ burst out of one of the houses and ran towards them. Link took a step towards them when Midna pulled on his fur. “We should run.”

            Before Link could question why, a sword stabbed into the ground next to him, making him jump with a yelp. He stared at the sword before it exploded, the shockwave pushing him back.

            “I told you to run!” Midna cried out, making Link reduce to his flight senses and sprinting towards the exit of the village.

            Why would they attack them? Didn’t they see Midna?

            As Link ran between the path of rock, he soon saw a sort of open gate. As he got closer, Midna pulled on his ear, forcing Link to a full stop. “Good, we should be out of sight now.”

            Link was confused, what did she mean?

            He turned around to look down the path he just ran down and waited. Were they waiting for Lotus and ___?

            Several silent moments passed until he spotted a figure running through with another one trailing behind the first. He recognized the first runner to be Lotus while the other was ___. He told her she needed to improve her cardio…

            Lotus slowed to a stop in front of Link and Midna, panting lightly. ___ soon came along, bending over to rest her hands on her knees as she panted heavily.

            “This is Link, right?” Lotus questioned, looking at the imp riding him.

            “Uh-huh,” Midna confirmed. “Cute, huh?”

            “Hu-wha…?” ___ looked up at the duo. “Link is a wolf?” Link nodded in confirmation, feeling his tail wag behind him. “Aw… you look really cute.”

            A part of Link wanted ___ to fawn over this form of his but he knew this wasn’t the time or place.

            Lotus crouched to balance on her toes, looking Link in the eye. “How do you revert him back to his human form?”

            “Master Sword,” came Midna’s simple reply.

            “Great…” Lotus pushed herself back on two feet. “I don’t suppose you have the sword on hand?”

            “As a matter of fact,” Midna jumped off Link to float to the side, making the hylians look at her. She snapped her fingers and the sheathed Master Sword appeared, hovering in the air. “I do.”

            Link approached the sword; he barely touched it before his body turned black and two dimensional black squares left, allowing him to stand on his two feet once more. He took the sheathed blade from Midna and strapped it to his back.

            “Link… where are your clothes?” ___ asked, her breathing returned to normal.

            Link’s eyes widened as he patted himself and looked down; relieved to see he’s covered. He feared that he was nude…

            Link took a closer look at what he was wearing; moss green tunic with metal chainmail beneath, brown knee-high leather boots, brown leather gauntlets, white-tan long sleeved undershirt and pants. He even felt a hat on his head; he reached up, feeling a long cotton-like material on his head.

            Oh, this must be what ___ meant. Wait… where was his ring?! He patted his sides, soon finding two pouches. He dug his hand into one, visibly relaxing when his exposed fingers made contact with soft velvet. Thank you, Midna…

He briefly glanced at ___ while taking his hand out of his pouch; she didn’t seem to notice his internal panic. Good, he didn’t want to spring that question onto her, yet.

            “Well, if you’re going to stick around, you might dress in era appropriate clothes,” Midna stated and snapped her fingers again, revealing a set of neatly folded clothing. “I’ll give these back to you after we’re done.”

            “No need,” Lotus snatched the clothes from the air, holding them to her chest. “I’ll keep these with ___’s. Now then, we have to deal with the problem at hand.”

            “Wait,” Link cut her off. “Why did you attack Midna and I?”

            “I was not aiming for you. And even if one of my attacks did hit you, it would not cause you any harm. It was more for show. I know it would have been better to warn you but there was never an opportunity.”

            “Oh… well,” Link rubbed the back of his neck. “A warning would have been nice.”

            “Consider yourself warned then,” Lotus looked up, taking a steady breath. “We should talk more in the village… people will begin to wonder where ___ and I went.”

 

            Link was well known in Lotus’ village and a hero among the kids so it was rather awkward for him to interact with these children seeing as he never met before. Lotus was quick to come to the rescue, stating that they needed to speak about hero business. In which, Beth responded with a knowing look. Lotus merely scoffed and rolled her eyes when Beth gave her that look.

            “What was that about?” you questioned Lotus when the three of you stood around Lotus’ home.

            “Nothing,” Lotus rubbed her forehead with her fingers. “She assumes Link and I are an item. There isn’t anything going on between the two of us, just a strong friendship.”

            “If that’s what you think, you’re denser than I realized,” Midna said as she emerged from Link’s shadow.

            Lotus released a sigh of agitation. “My so called ‘love life’ can be discussed at another time, right now; we need to figure out how to turn Link to and from his beastial state.”

            “Can’t Midna just summon the Master Sword?” Link asked. “Not to mention that the only reason I would ever need to transform is when we’re warping.”

            “A wolf’s senses are sharper than our own. You can find things you couldn’t as a human and there may be areas accessible only as a wolf.”

            “Link and I were able to find those kids and Ilia through scents,” Midna explained, furthering Lotus’ argument. “And when Hyrule was covered in Twilight, Link had to locate bugs to restore Light to the land. The only way he could see them was using his senses as a wolf.”

            “Link, place the Master Sword on the table please,” Lotus directed.

            Link did as the woman asked. He unsheathed the sword, placing it on the table. Lotus approached the sword. She held a hand over the blade–palm facing down–, the palm of her hand glowed a soft orange. In response, the gold jewel on the sword glowed as well. A small white ball of light emerged from the blade, going towards Lotus’ hand. She flipped her hand over, allowing the ball to hover on her hand.

            You stared in awe as Lotus began to speak. “This is a very, very small amount of magical power of the Master Sword. It should be enough to bring Link back to human form,” she looked at Midna. “Midna, I require a small amount of concentrated Twilight magic.”

            Midna held her hands above one another and she closed her visible eye in concentration. Steadily, a black orb with blue sparks grew between Midna’s hands. Once it grew to about an inch in diameter, Midna adjusted her hands to have the ball of energy hover over her left hand. She floated to Lotus and handed the hylian the ball of energy. Holding both balls of energy in each hand, Lotus took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She brought the balls of magic together, one hand over the other, palms facing together. Lotus clapped her hands together briefly and immediately parted her hands. A white energy encased whatever it was she did before dimming, revealing what looked like a glass hourglass with the top-half glowing dark pblue and the bottom-half dimly glowing white.

            Lotus held the hourglass out to Link. “Touch it.”

            Link raised a brow, skeptically glancing between her and the hourglass. He raised a hand and gently placed his fingers on it. Almost immediately, Link gasped and fell to his hands and knees, black covering his entire body before being revealed as a black and white wolf.

            “So far so good,” Lotus turned the hourglass around, causing the dark light to dim while the white light brightened. She crouched, allowing Link to touch it once more, causing him to revert back to his human form. Lotus stood up and offered the hourglass to Midna. “Now that we know this works, I’ll leave this with you knowing that you will always be close to Link.”

            “Well, you can’t get any closer to someone than being their shadow,” Midna said, briefly looking over the hourglass before closing her fist, causing the device to disappear while Link picked up the Master Sword.

            “How difficult was it to get the Master Sword?” you questioned Link as he placed the blade back in its sheath. “You and Midna were gone for a week.”

            Link stared at you with wide eyes, making you lean back in surprise. “What do you mean, ‘a week’?!”

            You briefly glanced at Midna, who mirrored Link’s surprise. “We were only gone for an afternoon, a day at most…” she looked at Lotus “right?”

            Lotus shook her head. “Seven days passed since the two of you left. It could be possible that wherever you were, manipulated with your sense of time. However, that isn’t important; the two of you are safe and sound with the Master Sword in your possession. What will you do next?”

            Your next move was to find something called the Mirror of Twilight. Midna explained that there is where Zant most likely is and where their Link is currently being held. However, this mirror was located somewhere within the Gerudo Desert and Midna couldn’t warp there. Not to mention that the desert couldn’t be reached by foot… not to your or Midna and Lotus’ knowledge anyway.

            After taking a day to rest, you started to come up with a plan to solve this conundrum. Lotus suggested to visit a woman named Telma. She–and Lotus–is part of a group that do whatever they can to help Hyrule become a better place. They have a small group of friends that have been around Hyrule and could give pretty sound advice.

            “You do know my Link and your Link aren’t the same person, right?” you asked Lotus after she mentioned her Link was offered an invitation to join this group.

            “Of course I know. I made it a known to Telma the two of you are not from our era,” Lotus said.

            “WHAT?!”

            Lotus assured you, and Link, that Telma–or her circle of friends–is not the sort of the person to spread something like this. Telma was aware what sort of things Lotus could do with magic but Telma was still the sort of person who has the belief “see to believe”.

            “The Eldin Bridge is currently out of commission,” Lotus explained as she, you and Link were hunched over a map of Hyrule. Midna currently acted as Link’s shadow. “Thankfully, however, Link funded the construction of a bridge that connects the Eldin Plains to a path leading to the Eastern gates of Hyrule Castle Town,” she dragged her finger across the map, tapping where the gates were. “Be careful, the plains are currently occupied by bulbins riding warthogs.”

            “I expected we had to fight monsters along the way,” you said with a stretch.

            “Do you expect us to travel by foot?” Link looked up to look at Lotus.

            “Link had his own horse… hopefully she will allow you to borrow her,” Lotus said.

            “You mean Epona is here too?” you asked with a smile and excitement filling you.

            Lotus chuckled. “Epona, an ever loyal stead. She would even follow her rider to the next life,” she pushed herself away from the table. “Do you remember how to get to Hyrule Castle Town?” when both you and Link nodded, she continued. “Telma’s Bar is located in the southern district. The bar is located at the end of a tunnel but you should see a sign hanging at the beginning of it. It… it is out of the way, it will take some time for you to find it. Don’t be shy about asking for directions if you get lost.”

            “Gotcha,” you gave her a thumbs up.

            Lotus raised a brow at the gesture, confusion written over her face. “Let’s go meet Epona then, shall we?”

           

            You were impressed at how quickly Epona figured out your Link was not her Link. She sniffed Link then backed away with a neigh, head raised and ears pressed back.

            “Wow that horse is smart,” you stated.

            “Yes… while I never witnessed it myself, she is rather sensitive to the people around her,” Lotus said. “For her to realize that Link isn’t her rider is rather astounding especially since they look so similar.”

            Link sighed before relaxing himself. He held a hand out to Epona. The large mare snorted and dug her hoof into the dirt beneath her. However, Link remained still, keeping his hand out to her. They seemed to share some sort of psychic conversation before Link lowered his hand and Epona took a step towards him. They stared at one another before Link approached her. He raised a hand to pet her neck and Epona lowered her head to allow him easier access.

            You smiled at the scene. The bond Link and Epona shared never failed to make you smile and feel warm. Even now, being from different presents, they were still friendly with one another.

            Link looked back at you with one hand resting on Epona’s shoulder. “We should get going now.”

            You gasped, not expecting to leave so soon. “O-Oh! Right… we should get going.”

            As you took one step forward, you felt Lotus grip your elbow. “Wait!”

            You stopped to look back at her. You tilted your head, silently questioning her.

            Releasing your elbow, Lotus twisted her body to look inside her satchel while one hand dug around inside. “I have a few things for you… Ah, here they are,” she pulled out a brown leather belt that held a satchel on the side and looked like some sort of empty carrier was attached to it as well.

            You took the belt then handed your tome to Lotus, next you removed the belt you were currently wearing before buckling the new one around your waist. The satchel rested behind you on the right side of your hips while the empty carrier–which turned out to be several thin leather belts attached to one another–hung on your left side.

            “That is where your book will be stationed,” Lotus said as she approached you. She then slid the tome into the carrier and buckled it in. “In your satchel you will find two green potions and a red one. The green potions regenerate your mana, magic meter if you will. The red potion will heal some wounds but not all… I didn’t have the time to make a blue potion. If you come across any Chus, red or blue, their remains will have the effects as the potions. But be careful of the purple ones, their remains can either heal or harm you so I would slay those and not bother with their jelly.”

            You nodded at her explanation. “Alright… what do they look like?”

            “Large jelly slugs.”

            “Gotcha,” you turned towards Link, he was already mounted on Epona. You paused to look back at Lotus. “Uhm… thank you for everything.”

            “Not a problem. Take care.”

            Giving her a final nod, you looked back at Link and approached him. He reached a hand down to you. You grasped it and he pulled you up and behind Epona. You felt her shift and release a deep noise at the new addition of weight.

            Once you were settled, Link clicked his tongue then squeezed his heels into Epona’s side, urging her to move. He made Epona trot through Kakariko. You turned around and waved goodbye to Lotus, who shortly returned the gesture until you and Link were out of sight.

 

            “So she said we had to move quickly…” you heard Link muse as he stopped Epona on the short rock-way leading onto Eldin Plains. He turned his head to the side to look at you. “I’ll be counting on you to protect us.”

            You felt your stomach drop and anxiety immediately taking over at what Link said. You swallowed and slowly nodded. “O-okay…”

            Link, noticing how tense you were, rested one of his hands over one your arms wrapped around his waist. “___, you wouldn’t be here with me if Lotus knew you weren’t capable. I know you can do this.”

            Hearing Link’s vote of confidence didn’t help you feel any better but you had to suck it up and calm down if you were going to protect yourself, Epona and most importantly–him.

            You took a deep breath and straightened yourself up. “Okay, let’s go,” Lotus said the bulbins were on warthogs, what were the chances of them catching up to a full grown horse?


	8. VIII

You knew warthogs weren’t any larger than thirty inches at shoulder height. They couldn’t catch up to a full grown horse, especially one like Epona. So…

            “What the _hell_ are they feeding those things?!” you exclaimed in shock and surprise as you raised a hand to create a shield and block an incoming flaming arrow.

                Currently chasing you and Link down were green skinned goblin-like creatures mounted on warthogs the size of a _horse_. There were three warthogs chasing you, each with two riders; one was steering and the other was shooting arrows at you.

                Focusing magical energy into your free hand, you looked behind you to see one pair advancing more closely than the others. You threw the indigo ball at the ground in front of the mounted riders. The impact created a small light explosion. The warthog squealed at the sudden light, rearing back, effectively bucking off its riders. The warthog then blindly ran off.

                “That’s one down,” you said and re-adjusted yourself to look back in front. “How far are we from the bridge?”

                “Not that far!” Link responded and ducked down with you following as a fire arrow sailed over you both. “___, a little defense please.”

                “I got it,” you both sat back up and you turned around, eyes widening in shock upon seeing a second warthog close by. Using a bit of focus, you created a pointed shard of ice before shooting it behind you.

                The shard hit the bulbin controlling the warthog, making it cry out before falling off its mount. The archer held on to dear life while the warthog ran around and away from you.

                You looked back in front when you heard Epona run on wood, noticing that you and Link were crossing a wooden bridge. You briefly looked behind you the third warthog and its riders stopping at the beginning of the bridge, they didn’t even shoot at you.

                Link slowed Epona down to a walk as the two of you rode into a tunnel. You let out a sigh of relief and rested your hands on Link’s. What the two you had just gone through was nerve-wracking.

                “You did a good job,” Link said as he looked behind to at you. He watched as you jumped, staring at him with wide-eyes. He offered you a soft smile. “Thank you for keeping us safe.”

                “Honestly… I just acted on instinct,” you replied, averting your gaze to look beyond Link, noticing that he was directing Epona to the left. You moved your right hand to grab Link’s right wrist to gently direct Epona away from walking into a wall. Link looked back in front as you did so, now noticing his accidental actions. You hugged him and lifted yourself to rest your head on his shoulder. “Weren’t you taught to keep your eyes on the road?” you grinned teasingly at him.

                Link only sighed and spoke in a mildly annoyed tone. “Yes…” you were pretty sure he rolled his eyes when he responded.

                You giggled and settled back on the saddle.

                “Oh, I think I see sunlight,” Link moved Epona to a canter. “We should be arriving at the capital soon.”

                “Oh joy…” you thought with an eye roll. “Now we’ll need to deal with snooty medieval nobles turning their nose up at us… Wow, among everything that’s happening _this_ is my biggest concern?”

                A couple of minutes passed before you and Link arrived at a gateway with a large wooden door. Link pulled Epona to stop, making the horse neigh a little before she sneezed.

                “Bless you,” you said as you slid off her. You wobbled on your legs before Link caught you to steady you. “Thanks,” you smiled.

                “Anytime,” he smiled back before realising you and walked to the wooden door.

                You momentarily stared after him. Of course he wouldn’t have any problem walking after riding on horseback; he’s been horse-back riding since he was ten. Hopefully after some time you’ll be in the same condition.

                You followed Link and noticed a lack of people. “Wouldn’t there be guards of some kind standing by…? In case bandits show up… or those moblin things?”

                Midna emerged from Link’s shadow… although she took on a shadowed form with her eye being the only source of colour on her. “The so-called ‘knights of Hyrule’ are a bunch of cowards. They wouldn’t even escort a wagon across Hyrule.”

                “Wow, no wonder Lotus joined up a group. If you want to get things done, better do it yourself,” you said with a shrug and walked up to the door. You pushed it open with some difficulty and waited for Link to follow.

                Midna returned to below Link’s feet before the Hylian jogged up to you.

                Upon entering Hyrule Castle Town, you and Link were bombarded by the sound of commotion, people bustling about to shop or simply socialize. Link took a hold of your hand and you gave him a gentle squeeze in response. He looked back at you and you smiled at him. Link rolled his eyes and smiled at you too before dragging you behind him towards where you assume was the town square.

                The rabble became much louder and Link pulled you closer when you approached the crowd. You looked around as people came in and out stores; some were sitting by the fountain or standing around in little groups and socializing. Wow, so this is what social gatherings looked like without any sort of technology. It was… nice.

                You looked up where you knew where the Castle was-

                You yanked Link back into a halt as you stared wide-eyed at Hyrule Castle.

                Link looked back at you with an annoyed expression but it dropped upon seeing your face. He followed your gaze to the Castle, making him gasp in surprise. The castle was kept within a black gold diamond. What happened? Why is it blocked off?

                You and Link looked at one another. “There is a giant diamond covering the castle and their country’s royal family is trapped in there,” you began, “and none of these people are concerned?”

                “Maybe they don’t see it…” Link guessed, rubbing his thumb over your hand. “I mean… we were brought from the future.”

                You swallowed and nodded, briefly looking at the imprisoned castle. You heaved a sigh and turned around. “We should get going… we aren’t going to do much just standing here and staring up at it.”

                “Right,” Link started to walk. “Telma’s bar is in the southern district, it’s this way.”

                Doing your best to stay close to Link, the two of you weaved through the crowd. Eventually, Link pulled the two of you out of the crowd. You followed him down a set of stairs to a small clearing where you could see a sign hanging over an entry to a tunnel.

                “That must be what Lotus was talking about,” you said. You pulled Link along, forcing a gasp of surprise from him. “Come on, let’s not waste any time.”

                You dragged Link through the tunnel, towards the door at the end of it. You opened the door and stepped inside. Upon entering, the scent of wood burning and freshly cooked food. You sighed happily while Link released your hand and stepped further in.

                You spotted a bar on your right where a woman stood.

                “That must be Telma,” you thought as you followed Link to the bar.

                The red-haired hylian took notice of you two. “Oh my… if it isn’t Link! And…” her gaze shifted over to you. Her eyes widened in surprise. “_-___?”

                You nodded shyly, shifting your feet nervously.

                The woman walked around the bar and towards you. Upon closer inspection, she was a few inches taller than Link, and she wore a black skirt with a purple apron-like cloth with different designs, black jacket with white sleeves that was open enough to reveal bust clad in a yellow bra.

                You shrank a bit as she leant down to inspect you. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked you over. She pulled back as her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Then she looked at Link before looking back at you.

                She stood up straight and her expression turned to a blank one. You tugged on one of your sleeves.

                “This is…” Telma began before taking a deep breath. “So that means ___ was telling the truth. That’s incredible…” she smiled. “She really has come a long way,” she became shocked, almost as if she suddenly realized something. “Then that means Link really was captured…” she sighed.

                “Yes we were brought to save Hyrule in his place,” Link said.

                Telma folded her arms beneath her bust. She gave Link a flirtatious smile. “Well then, try not to disappoint then honey,” she finished with a wink and a giggle.

                Link stared back at her in surprise while you puffed your cheeks out furrowed your brows in annoyance.

                Telma laughed at your expression. “I’m only teasing sweetheart,” she dropped her hands back to her side before returning back behind the bar. “Anyways, you two have good timing; most of my and ___’s friends are here.”

                “We just call her Lotus,” you said.

                “Good call, it would be confusing to address the two of you otherwise,” Telma turned towards another part of the room where two figures were seated at a table while another was standing. “Hey, everyone! Introduce yourselves!” all three turned towards you. “These are the ___ and Link from another era!”

                You expected them to jump out of their seats and question the two of you but they just returned to talking amongst themselves… or whatever it was they were doing. You weren’t going to lie, it was pretty disappointing.

                “I’m sure… Lotus told you two about them right?” Telma asked as your attention was brought back to her. “These are our friends who are trying to help deal with all the troubles in Hyrule. Well actually, there’s one more of us,” she folded her arms once more, “but there’s been a disturbing turn of events in the eastern desert, so he’s gone to check it out. He’s an older man named Auru. If you happen to meet him, definitely take the time to talk with him, okay, honey, sweetheart? Since you two came all this way, why don’t you take some time to relax?”

                “I will gladly take you up on that offer,” you stated.

                Telma laughed. “Too much excitement?”

                “Yes…” you slumped on her bar, failing to notice Link going to talk to Telma’s friends.

                She placed her arms on the bar and leaned on them. “You shouldn’t worry too much. If your Link is like ours, then you’ll have a talented warrior at your side.”

                You stood up. “You saw Link fight?”

                “Escorted me, a young zora child and Ilia across Hyrules, and protected us from various monsters,” she stood up. “He’s very good at fighting using different weapons.”

                “Yeah, Link’s naturally talented like that,” you smiled thoughtfully.

                “Oh?” she leaned over the bar, resting her head in the palms of her hand. “Are you interested in him?”

                “Actually, he’s my boyfriend.”

                “Really?” her eyes opened in surprise. “Hmm?” she smiled mischievously.

                “What?” you raised a brow in confusion.

                “Oh nothing,” she looked to the side. “Hello Link, are you done talking to the others?”

                You looked to the side to see Link walking up to you. “Yes, they’re very informative, interesting and nice.”

                Telma smiled and stood up. “Of course they are. Can I get you anything to eat?”

                “Thank you but we need to get going,” Link politely declined.

                “Where are we going?” you asked.

                “Lake Hylia,” he answered. “That’s where Auru is. I figured if we talk to him, we’ll be able to find a way into Gerudo Desert.”

                “So you’re leaving?” Telma asked. “Be careful you two.”

                “Thank you Telma,” you said. “It was nice meeting you.”

                “It was a pleasure,” she raised a hand and gave a lazy wave. “Come back soon.”

                You happily nodded in agreement while Link bid the woman goodbye before escorting you out of the bar.

                “She is so cool!” you exclaimed once the two of you were outside.

                “You barely even know her,” Link stated as he stared at you in amusement.

                “Yeah… but I can just tell.”

                Link shook his head at you. “If you want to know who Telma’s friends are, I can tell you before we go to Lake Hylia,” he paused at the start of the short tunnel leading to Telma’s bar. You stood in front of him, waiting for him to continue. “Ashei is warrior; she looked pretty strong from what I could tell. A man called Rusl… although I couldn’t get a lot out of him, he didn’t talk very much. Then there was Shad-” he stopped himself at the look of excitement on your person; eyes wide, large grin and gently bouncing on your heels. “___, I don’t know if this Shad is the same one as the one you know.”

                “You never know,” you responded. One of your favorite historians of Hyrule was a man called Shad. He uncovered a lot of Hyrule’s history, some even people believed were lost forever.

                “___, no.”

                “But-”

                “___, I am not risking anymore time paradoxes or alterations to our present,” Link raised an accusing finger at you. “Am I understood?”

                You stared at him silently. Several moments passed before you relented with a sigh. “Alright fine… I’ll _try_ to contain my excitement.”

                Link smiled, dropping his hand. “Thank you,” he kissed your cheek then pulled away. “Midna,” he called.

                Midna emerged from Link’s shadow. “What is it?” she questioned as she hovered in front of you two.

                “Would it be possible to warp to Lake Hylia?”

                “Yes. Do you want to warp there?”

                When Link nodded, Midna took out the hourglass device and used it to turn Link into a wolf and she took on her true form, planting herself on Link’s back. You were about to question what was going to happen when you suddenly froze and small black squares peeled off your body and flew up into the sky.

 

                When you came to, you wobbled before falling to your hands and knees with your vision being blurry and always shifting. You blinked as you took deep breaths, trying to regain your senses. You looked up when you heard padding and came face to face with Link, who was still a wolf.

                He tilted his head to the side with his ears perked up.

                You gave a small laugh and placed a hand on his head, petting him. “You are adorable as a wolf.”

                Link snorted and pulled away with an eye roll… if wolves could roll their eyes.

                “That woman, Telma, said Auru was somewhere here,” Midna said, making both you and Link look at her. “We should find him.”

                You stood up just as Midna turned Link back into a human. You dusted yourself off then followed Link through Lake Hylia. You walked around the limited area before finding a sort of thin stone tower. Link told you to wait for him at the bottom while he climbed up.

                Seeing that is was a long climb up, you sat down in the shade to protect yourself from the sun’s rays. Minutes passed and no sign of Link coming down, leaving you to hum and tap your fingers rhythmically against your thigh.

                You looked up at the sky, the sun still high up. You guessed it was just about mid-day.

                Your attention was brought to the ladder as you heard someone descending. You stood up and looked up to see who it was, holding a hand above your eyes to keep sunlight out of them. You smiled upon spotting Link climb down the staircase.

                “Was Auru up there?” you questioned once Link touched the ground.

                “Yes,” he answered as he turned around to look at you. “Apparently something malicious is lying in the desert. He thinks it has something to do with the Mirror of Twilight.”

                "Alright..." 

                “Auru told me there was this guy called Fyer who could help us.”

                “Oh yeah? Cool. Where is he?”

                “He’s operating a cannon that is used for some sort of game of his,” Link brought you to the edge of the cliff, pointing towards a sort of building floating on the water. “See?”

                “Huh. How did I miss that?” Seriously, _how_ did you? It stuck out like a sore thumb! You shook your head. “Anyway, how is a guy controlling a cannon going to help us?” you looked at Link.

                “He’ll shoot us into the Gerudo Desert.”

                You blinked at him once. Then twice. “You cannot be serious.”


	9. VX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be posting a chapter next week because I need to focus on school. Aside from that, enjoy!

“Link, you can’t pay me enough rupees to get into that cannon and then have me shot across the kingdom,” you declared.

                “We don’t have that much of a choice ___,” Link said. “We don’t have another way to the Gerudo Desert. Auru said the way there is impassable.”

                “And what are we going to do if this kills us?”

                “I can assure you little lady that it is completely survivable,” the man manning the cannon, Fyer said, directing both your and Link’s attention to him. “I wouldn’t be offering a ride if I knew it wasn’t safe. Trust me; I know what I’m doing.”

                You fell silent as you contemplated the flamboyantly dressed man’s words. People don’t open attractions unless they knew it worked and it was safe… But this way before your time where you were absolutely certain something like this wouldn’t open.

                But what sort of adventure lacks a little bit of risk and excitement? The irrational part of your brain asked.

                “Nothing better happen to Link,” you reluctantly relented.

                “Nothing is going to happen to him or you. So then,” Fyer stepped to the side, “lady’s first?”

                You and Link looked at one another briefly before you looked back at the entrance to the cannon. You took a deep breath and walked into the cannon. The entrance sealed off, making the entire structure violently shake for a moment, forcing you off balance. You rested a hand against the wall as you waited for the housed cannon to steady itself. There was a moment of silence in the pitch black room before you began to hear music on the outside.

                You strained your hearing to identify what genre of music it was but your focus was forced back onto the cannon as it jerked around and raised itself. You were not fully prepared for when you were suddenly shot out, tearing a scream from your throat. You were convinced you were going to die as you sailed over Lake Hylia.

                Some time passed before you landed harshly on a firm yet soft surface. Your body hasn’t stopped its momentum and continued to roll several times before it came to a complete stop. You waited with your eyes, trying to confirm whether or not you survived.

                You can hear your heart pounding, there was heat on your back and your hands were planted on a heated, grainy surface. You opened your eyes to see sand. You pushed yourself up on your elbow to see sand for miles and miles. You slowly stood up and looked around, noting that you were on top of a hill.

                You… actually made it. You were in the Gerudo Desert!

                You smiled brightly as you fell to your knees and thanked the three Golden Goddesses and Her Grace, Hylia. You were so happy to be alive and sang their praises, so much so that you hadn’t even noticed someone approach you until they placed a hand on your shoulder.

                You jumped and shot your head up to look at them. The person turned out to be Link.

                “What are you doing?” he questioned with a raised brow.

                “I was thanking the Goddesses,” you stated as you stood up and brushed off any sand on your clothing. Once you were done, you embraced Link, catching the young hero off-guard. “I’m glad you’re okay,” you pulled away to hold him by the shoulders. “Unless you’re a hallucination.”

                “I’m not a hallucination ___,” Link assured you and grabbed your hands to pull them off his shoulders. “So, cannon ride wasn’t so bad now was it?”

                “Science would say that we should be dead,” you dropped your hands to the side. “But in all honesty; I’d rather not do that again.”

                “We might not need to,” Link took a step around you to gaze over the land you would need to traverse. “Let’s get moving before we perish in the heat.”

                You nodded and waited for Link to take the first step.

                “Wait,” you heard Midna call, making you both you pause and turn to look at her. She gazed at you both nervously with a hand held up, almost as if she was about to reach for either one of you. She pulled her hand and looked away with her arms behind back and legs crossed. “Do either of you know anything about the Mirror of Twilight?”

                You and Link looked at one another. Link seemed to be looking at you for confirmation. “Oh right,” you said at realization that you would probably know more about mythical items than Link. You looked back at Midna. “There isn’t that much detail on the Mirror… All I know is it acted like some sort of portal.”

                “And Fused Shadow?” Midna questioned.

                “If I remember correctly… it was a strong source of dark magic and was used to try to take control of the Sacred Realm and the Triforce by a specific group of mages but I can’t for the life of me remember who…” you scratched your head as you gazed at the sand beneath your feet as you wracked your brain for answers.

                “They were called The Interlopers.”

                “Yes, that’s it,” you looked at Midna, removing your hand from your head.

                “What do you think happened to them?” when neither you nor Link answered, she continued. “They were banished, chased across Hyrule and driven into another realm by the goddesses.”

                “It was bound to happen with something like the Triforce lying around,” you commented.

                “Yes… with the power the Triforce provided it is rather easy to fall greed and hunger.”

                “You mentioned The Interlopers were sent to another realm,” Link interrupted. You can always count on him to get back to the topic at hand. “What was this realm exactly?”

                “I guess you can describe it as Hyrule’s antithesis. Its denizens became shadows that could not mingle with the light. Eventually, most came to call it the Twilight Realm.”

                “So if Hyruleis the land of light, then that means the Twilight Realm is the land shadow. And you said its denizens can’t interact with the light… Does that mean people from the Twilight Realm can’t come here and people from here can’t go there?” you asked.

                “When Twilight covered Hyrule, the light dwellers became akin to spirits and they weren’t aware of the change in their world. As for people from the Twilight Realm… none could come here,” Midna answered as she continued. “They were mere shadows of Hyrule, forever doomed to flitting in the half-light of dusk,” Midna paused for a moment then gazed away. “This is the history of the Twili as it has been passed down from our ancestors…”

                “Ancestors..?” your eyes widened briefly before returning to their original roundness. “That would explain how you know so much.”

                “Yes, I’m a descendant of the tribe that was banished to the Twilight Realm!” Midna glared, although it wasn’t directed at you or Link. She calmed down before continuing. “It was peaceful place… until Zant took control and transformed all of the Twili into shadow beasts.”

                “Then set his eyes on Hyrule and that’s why you sought Link out; to stop Zant,” Link concluded.

                “I feel… no, I _know_ there is something more to it. Zant somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to our tribe… the source may have be the same evil the Princess warned me about. The same one only the chosen hero can defeat,” she looked at Link. “In any case, I was sent from there and I can’t return without his power.”

                “But that’s why we’re going to the Mirror of Twilight. We’re going to use it to get to the Twilight Realm, right?” you guessed.

                “Yes, it’s our only path.”

                You went silent, taking in all of what Midna told you. “Alright,” you sighed, slapping your hands to your side. “That must have been a lot for you to tell two people you recently met. Thank you. So which way do we go?”

                “We have to go to the Arbiter’s Grounds,” Midna floated passed you and Link and pointed to a large distant structure with several giant pillars encircling it. “That’s where the Mirror is located.”

                “Why would something so precious be at a place that acts like a prison?” you thought. “Were some criminals so bad they needed to be sent to the Twilight Realm?”

                Midna went back into Link’s shadow before you and Link looked at one another. You tossed your head with a smile, a sign for him to lead. Link responded with a nod before beginning to descend down the sandy slope with you in tow.

               

                During the walk to the grounds, the heat was pretty unbearable but you’ve done your best your spirits up. But with the sand in clothes from your landing, wind wiping the sand into your eyes and the sun’s rays beating down your back, making you sweat and clothes stick to you… it was pretty hard. But at least the sun was beginning to set so it should become much cooler.

                “Link, do you have any water?” you asked as you swallowed whatever saliva you had built up in an attempt to slightly quench your thirst.

                Link paused before beginning to search through his magical satchel of items. He took out one bottle that held some sort of yellow-gold liquid. Oil, you guessed. He took out a second one, which was revealed to be empty. “Did Lotus give you anything?” he asked as he put the bottle back in the pouch.

                “Only potions,” you sighed and used the back of your hand to wipe sweat off your brow. “Man we were not prepared for this…” you wet your lips as you thought about what to do now. Water is made from hydrogen and oxygen. Elements of which are found in the atmosphere. Wouldn’t you be able to make water from that? “Okay, I think I have an idea,” you held your hands out in front of you with palm facing one another. You closed your eyes, took a deep breath and focused. Hydrogen and oxygen… you can use magic to bring those together… hopefully. Or you can make water using magic.

                When you heard Link gasp, you opened your eyes to see a small, moving transparent sphere between your hands. You moved your hands a little further apart as the sphere expanded. You looked at Link and smiled.

                “I think I did it!” you said happily while maintaining focus.

                “Good work,” Link smiled and reached out to touch it. The ball swished at Link’s intruding hand. He pulled back is hand as the water swished more before settling in place. “My hand is fine so that’s good.”

                You brought the ball to you and drank some water from it. You sighed in content. “Oh that’s so nice… Do you want some?”

                “I’ll be fine. Reserve your magic energy for later.”

                You nodded and drank the rest of it before continuing your quest. As you walked through the desert, you took out your tome and it flipped open, revealing a page that showed how to make water. You smiled, excited that you learned a new spell. You closed the tome and returned it back to its holster and skipped next to Link, not at all minding the sand or the heat.

                “Wait, get down!” Link fell to the ground and dragged you with him.

                “What?!” you asked in surprise as you both lied on the sand.

                “Look,” Link pulled you closer and pointed forward. “There are archers positioned on wooden towers.”

                You squinted in an attempt to see what Link sees. All you saw was brown structures through the haze caused by the intense heat. “I don’t see the archers.”

                “Stay here, I’ll take care of it,” Link made a move to stand.

                “Wait!” you grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. “Let me help.”

                “A bow and arrow is much more discreet than magic. And we don’t know how good your accuracy is at this range,” he lifted a hand to your cheek and rubbed your cheek. “Have some faith in me.”

                You stared at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding. Link gave you a brief kiss on the forehead before scooting away from you and steadily maneuvered across the sands. You watched him pull a bow and arrow from his satchel. He knelt in the sand as he nocked the arrow. He took a moment to aim before shooting. You heard a distant cry before it fell silent once more.

                Link gestured you to come forward. You kept low as you approached him. Link nocked another as he moved forward. He stopped after taking several steps forward and took aim. He shot once again and another cry rang through the air.

                “That takes care of the archers,” Link stated as he stood up. “Only four others.”

                “How can you see that?” you looked at him, amazed.

                “I have excellent vision,” he walked forward and pulled out another arrow. He took aim and began to fire. One by one, the creatures died. “There we go,” Link put away the bow.

                You both walked towards what looked like a camp now that you were much closer. Among the sands were two giant warthogs standing around. Oddly enough, no bodies were to be found. Strange…

                “Despite being monsters, you have to give them credit to be able to nourish these beasts,” you approached one of them and lightly jumped when it snorted and shook. “They don’t even seem bothered that their riders are dead.”

                “Meanwhile Epona will relentlessly pester me if I even feel slightly depressed,” Link said as he walked up to the warthog you were near and mounted it. “We can use these to travel more quickly now,” he held a hand out to you.

                You grabbed his hand and he pulled you up, settling behind him. You were more nervous sitting on the warthog than you were on Epona because this mount is much wider. When it began to move, you noticed it was a lot bouncier than Epona and it was only trotting… or galloping. Hanging on is going to be a nightmare when it starts to run.

                “I think this is the way forward,” you heard Link say as he pulled the warthog to halt.

                “What makes you say that?” you tilted your body to look around him. Ahead you saw a large wooden fence made from tall, thick pointed logs. “A blockade?”

                “No… The grounds are looming overhead. I can maybe blow it up with a bomb-”

                Both you and Link cried out in surprise when the warthog reared and let out what you can only describe as a roar. You fell back onto the sand and watched helplessly as Link hung onto the saddle while the warthog charged forward. It broke through the fence and continued, as if the fence wasn’t even there.

                You stood up and ran after them. You watched as the warthog hit a wall and Link was knocked back. You slowed to a stop as you drew closer to your boyfriend. He groaned as he sat up.

                “How’s your head?” you asked as you maneuvered to crouch in front of him. You reached out and plucked off Link’s hat, gently running your finger through his locks.

                “A little dizzy,” Link blinked and looked at you. He smiled reassuringly. “I’m okay, thank you.”

                “Are you sure?” you pulled your hands back to rest them on your thighs.

                “Yeah. What about you?”

                “My back kind of hurts, but I’ll live,” you handed him his hat back and stood up. You offered a hand to him and pulled him up when he accepted. You looked at the warthog. It was just standing, staring at the wall of stone. You noticed there were several steps going up the wall. Granted you still needed to climb. “Looks like that’s our way up,” you jogged up to the wall, hearing Link trailing behind you.

                You climbed up the first step then pulled Link up after you. He climbed the next one and pulled you up. This process was repeated once more before reaching the top. The two of you came to fork in the head. Link grabbed your wrist and tugged you towards the right.

                You and Link walked through the road for several minutes before emerging into an open area with broken stone structures sticking out of the sand. Ahead of that was the place where the Mirror of Twilight was located.

                You and Link walked through the area until you reached the first row of broken structures. You gasped when pulled you behind one and had you pressed against the wall.

                “Another archer?” you guessed.

                “Yes,” Link looked around the side before returning back to you. “I think this is a bulbin camp.”

                You groaned as you lightly hit your head against the wall behind. “Great… How can we take on Goddess knows how many bulbins?”

                “We won’t. We’ll just sneak around the camp and pick off any ones that have a potential of spotting us and warning the others.”

                You looked up at the sky then back to Link, noticing that he was searching through his satchel. “Link, shouldn’t we wait until nightfall? Sneaking is a lot easier at night.”

                Link paused to look at you. “That is true… but we can’t stay here.”

                Careful to not be caught, you and Link left the area. You walked back to the fork in the road and walked down the path you didn’t take before. It led to a dead end. It was decided that the two of you would take this opportunity to sleep in shifts before moving on. Neither of you knew what lied within the Arbiter Grounds and it would be better to fight the monsters coming at you rested than tired.

                You were awoken by something clinking. You blinked and noticed it was much darker. Link didn’t wake you up…? You looked to your right to see Link peacefully sleeping using an arm as a pillow.

                You heard the clinking again but this time it was followed by a sinister, raspy laugh that sent chills up your spine. Your body moved on auto-pilot as you summoned your tome and looked around to see what it was that made the laugh. You spotted a glowing blue figure that resembled a creepy stitched doll wielding a scythe and holding a lantern with its feet.

                You barely had time to create a shield to protect yourself and Link before the creature swung its scythe. The scythe bounced off your shield and the noise made a loud enough noise to wake Link up.

                When the glowing creature was forced back, you took the opportunity to attack with an indigo ball of magical energy. The creature released a shrieking hiss and fell to the ground. As it lay there, a dark purple sphere emerged from its chest.

                “What’s going on?!” you heard Link question. “What is that thing?”

                Before you could respond, Midna answered. “Grab the soul before it gets up!”

                “What?!” you looked at her, bewildered.

                “Just do it!”

                You scrambled to your feet and leaped for the thing. Coating your hands in raw magic energy, you grabbed the soul and yanked it out. The blue creature screeched before falling limp and vanishing, the lantern shattered as well.

                You panted as you tried to steady your rapidly beating heart. With the soul within your grasp, you looked at Midna as she floated over to you.

                “Now can you tell us what that thing was?” you asked as she took the soul from you with a hand made from her ponytail.

                “That was something called a Poe,” she answered as the hand retreated and returned back to being her magical hair, the soul was hidden away. “The only way you can kill it is by taking the soul.”

                “Goodie…” you looked at Link who looked like he was still trying to process everything. “How are you?”

                He blinked. “I fell asleep and then woke up to see my girlfriend fighting a ghost…” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and looked around. “Looks dark enough,” he looked at you. “We should get going.”

                You nodded and your tome returned to its holster while Midna returned to Link’s shadow. You and Link stood up before walking back to the area leading to the Arbiter Grounds.

                Hiding behind the same stone structure you stood behind hours earlier while Link shot the visible archer. Link gestured for you to follow when he was sure there wasn’t any other archer. You had to leave all the dirty work to Link as you both snuck around the bulbin camp. You were unnerved at how the bulbin bodies turned black before exploding, leaving nothing behind.

                Soon enough, you came across another fence made out of logs. You looked through it to see that led up to the building.

                “Looks like they’re really adamant about keeping themselves separated from the Arbiter Grounds,” Link commented. “If they’re trying to keep something from coming to them, they’re doing a bad job at it.”

                “Or trying to keep people from going in,” you suggested and looked at Link. He looked at you questioningly. “What?”

                Link shook his head and looked around. He locked his gaze at the double wooden doors behind you. “___, come look at this,” you followed Link’s lead and peered through the wooden bars. Inside the large stone chamber stood a lone warthog. “We can use that to get to the grounds.”

                “Good thinking,” you looked down and noticed a lock. “Unfortunately we’ll need a key first.”

                “One of them has to have one.”

                Once again, you were sneaking around the camp and Link shot the bulbins. Soon, you found a key, left behind by a bulbin sitting next to a roasting warthog. After grabbing the key, you wasted no time returning to the makeshift stable. After removing the lock, you both pushed a door and stepped in, allowing the doors to swing shut behind you. You approached the warthog but paused when you heard heavy footsteps.

                Link instinctively moved to stand in front of you as you both watched something with glowing red eyes approach you from the darkness. It soon revealed to be a large and fat bulbin with broken horns, wielding a large hammer. You took a couple steps back while Link stood his ground.

                The bulbin stopped and let out a roar. He swung his hammer, hitting the warthog and then Link, making you scream. The bulbin seemed to pay no mind to you as he kept his eyes on Link. He waited for Link to get up and draw his sword and shield.

                You made a move to help but were immediately shut down. “Make sure the warthog’s okay,” Link ordered you as the large bulbin approached him. Link briefly glanced at you. When he saw you didn’t move, he ordered again, “Go!”

                Despite every fiber in your body telling you otherwise, you ran towards the warthog. You knelt next to creature and noticed its eyes were open. You placed your hand in front of its snout and felt warm air brush against it. Good, it was still alive.

                You looked back at Link to see him jump away from the bulbin as it swung. When the bulbin raised its hammer to strike, Link jumped the side and went into a roll, ending up behind his enemy. Link then jumped and spun, blade effectively cutting into his opponent. When Link landed, he jumped away when the bulbin turned, hammer violently moving with the movement.

                You returned back to the warthog with noises of grunting, yelling and weapons swinging as background music and actively increasing your stress. You looked the creature over, attempting to find any blood. But there wasn’t any to be found. So you assumed the creature was in recovery.

                You were brought back to the fight behind you when Link let out a cry of pain. He was lying on the ground, trying to recover from the hit he received. He pushed himself up with a pained groan as the bulbin charged Link. If you didn’t do something, you were sure Link was going to die. Conjuring up a ball of light, you shot it at the bulbin’s face. You looked away when the explosion occurred, filling the stable with light. The bulbin roared and dropped its weapon. You looked back to see it clutching its face as it stumbled around.

                Link took the opportunity to attack once more. The bulbin stumbled back and grabbed its arm. It stared at Link before looking at you; Link stood with his sword and shield at the ready while you had another ball of light resting in the palm of your hand. He growled at you both before limping away. A wooden gate opened and let him through before closing behind him.

                You made the ball of light dissipate from your hand while you Link looked at one another. You both offered each other a smile at your victory. However it was short lived when you noticed the wooden gate burning. Fire spread throughout the make shift stable.

                You looked behind you when you heard the warthog make a noise. It stood up and looked relatively calm about the entire situation. You climbed on it and walked it towards Link. Link looked up at you and sheathed his sword while strapping his shield to his back. You held a hand out to him and took it without hesitation, immediately climbing on behind you.

                You directed the warthog to face the wooden fence and kicked its sides, hoping to encourage it to charge forward. You tightly squeezed your thighs on the warthogs and held onto the saddle when it reared back with a roar. Link on the other hand was left to hang onto you with his arms tightly wrapped around your waist.

                The warthog charged forward, breaking through the wooden fence and other wooden fences that stood in its path. It ran down the path provided, leaving the bulbin camp behind.


	10. X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry about the long wait, I ran into a bit of writer's block and there was a project in school that required my full attention... Anyways, that's done and the semester ends next week so I won't be busy enough to not write! So hopefully I'll be able to go back to updating once a week.  
> I hope you enjoy the chapter. If it seems a little rushed, my bad! I'll do better with the next one.

**~~~~** ~~~~

Upon approaching the prison grounds, the warthog slowed down, allowing you and Link to sit on it as comfortable as possible. And by “comfortable” you meant “not hanging on for dear life”. You pulled the reins of the warthog back, making it stop. You took a moment to look at the giant structure looming before you, spotting two lit torches on either side of the entrance.

                You read about this place as well as archeological reports about it. There were a lot of skeletons discovered… however that was during your time. You didn’t know whether or not there were still prisoners alive or is the place was all but abandoned. If the building was indeed abandoned, why would the bulbins need to make a fence? You guessed there were monsters living within the stone walls that even the bulbins were scared of.

                Following Link’s lead and dismounting the warthog, you let out an audible sigh then quickly walked towards Link who was standing at the foot of the stairs.

                “Link,” you gently called and grabbed his elbow when he started to walk again. He turned around to look at you, brow raised. You pulled your arm back and looked down to search through your satchel. Soon enough, you found what you were looking for; a red potion bottle. You looked back at Link and offered the bottle. “Here, you must’ve been hit pretty badly back there…”

                Link blinked, looking at the healing elixir you were offering. He raised a hand and set it on top of the bottle. His eyes lifted to yours while pushing the bottle down. “I don’t feel hurt, I’ll be fine.”

                “But-”

                “The potion should be saved for emergencies. A little injury here and there isn’t worth it, alright?”

                “Link, you were hit by an _axe!_ ” you said in exasperation, pulling your hand back. “How does that count as a “little” injury?”

                “You should know that I’m a lot sturdier than I look.”

                “I know but…” you sighed. “Just… take it, please,” you held the bottle out towards him. “At least carry it with you. You never know when we’ll get separated.”

                Link grabbed your wrist and yanked you towards him, forcing a yelp out of you. You lightly collided with Link’s chest and he took the opportunity to wrap his free arm around you. “I won’t let that happen.”

                You relaxed against him, resting your head against his chest. You could hear his steady, comforting heartbeat. “Okay…”

                Link pulled away from you and took the bottle containing the red potion. He put it in his pouch before making his way up to the entrance of the grounds with you following. Before going inside, you had to fight a Poe. After Midna claimed the soul, you were ready to head in.

                As you walked through the dark corridor, footsteps echoing around you, you saw lit lanterns hanging on the walls. So there were people… or monsters living within. The chamber you first entered, most of the floor was covered in sand and it all seemed to pour into some kind of sand-whirlpool. You and Link stood near the edge of the stone floor inspecting the area; there were several platforms ahead of you both but they too far and too high to jump to.

                “Look out!” you heard Link call out as you were pushed back, making you gasp in surprise.

                You stumbled back as you watched Link unsheathe the Master Sword and attack some sort of parasite-like thing. It let out some sort of raspy cry as the blade struck it, knocking it back into the moving sands from whence it came.

                Link looked at you and sheathed the Master Sword. “You weren’t hurt?”

                “I’m fine,” you answered then gazed around the room. “The better is; how do we get across?”

                “Hmm…” Link hummed in response. “Oh I see… ___, come here,” Link didn’t give you any time to respond as he used his left arm to pull you closer to him by the waist. “Hang onto to me.”

                Hesitantly, you wrapped your arms around Link’s neck, giving him a nod, indicating you were ready. Link gave a nod back and reached into his pouch using his right hand to pull out some sort three clawed mechanical device. He aimed and shot, claws gripping onto a yellow and red thing on to the wall. You let out a small cry as the two of you were dragged across the room. Upon reaching your destination, the claws released the circular thing hanging on the wall, allowing you both to drop onto the platform below you.

                “Was that some kind of grappling hook?” you asked as you parted away from him. “How’s your shoulder? Did you dislocate it?” you placed your hand on his right shoulder.

                Link hummed, returning the claw-thing back to his pouch. He rolled his right shoulder. “Feels fine, no throbbing pain or anything. Now then,” he looked away from you, “looks like we’ll need to jump from platform to platform. Be careful not to fall.”

                “Will do,” you said as you allowed Link to take the lead.

                You watched Link jump to the nearest. He stumbled a little but quickly regained his footing. He turned around to look at you. You backed away to have a bit of a running start. You ran the few steps between you and the edge before leaping over the distance between the two platforms. You landed in a crouch then stood up, relieved you managed.

                Link nodded in approval and then jumped to the next platform. The platform shook beneath him, urging him to move on. You would also need to move quickly, that platform might sink into the sand. You jumped onto the platform and were nearly knocked off balance when the platform shook beneath you. Without much thought, you jumped forward. Your eyes widened when you saw you were about to land in the sand. However Link caught your arm and pulled you towards him.

                He looked you over once seeing that you were fine, he gave you a small smile then moved on. The two of you walked further until you couldn’t progress further due to a stone gate.

                “Wait here,” Link said.

                “Okay,” you responded and watched Link traverse across the sand to reach another part of the room. Your eyes looked around that area, spotting some sort of chain. You concluded that was the switch to unlock the get.

                Once again using his claw contraption, Link had the chain dragged towards him before picking it up himself and pulling. A muffled “clang” reached your ears. You looked at the gate to see it part to either side. You waited for Link to join you before continuing ahead. The two of emerged in another chamber and your path was blocked by a locked stone door… actually, it was six chains attached to the four corners and two sides of the stone door, held together by a large black padlock.

                “I’ll go find the key,” Link said, taking a moment to place a hand on your shoulder.

                Before you could protest, Link left you. You watched as Link went to the tunnel to the left side of the door. He unsheathed his sword to cut at the pitiful wooden barrier blocking his path. He sheathed his sword and walked into the tunnel.

                You sighed and crossed your arms, moving your gaze away from Link. You shouldn’t feel so dejected; there will be more times where Link won’t need your help. You waited in front of the door, tapping your foot.

                Apparently, you got lost in your thoughts because you didn’t hear Link return. You felt someone place a hand on your shoulder, making you shriek and spin around, staring wide eyed at them. Link held his hand away from you, surprised he unintentionally scared you.

                You held a hand to your chest, attempting to calm your rapidly beating heart.

                “You probably shouldn’t let your guard down… even if I’m nearby,” Link advised.

                You nodded, lowering your hand from your chest. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

                You stepped away from the door, allowing Link to stand in front of it. He pulled out a black key then used it to unlock the padlock. The heavy padlock unlocked, releasing its grip on the six chains. The chains fell to the side while the padlock fell on the ground with a somewhat loud “bang.”

                Link moved to grab a hold of the door but you stopped him. “Shouldn’t we take that key with us? There might be other padlocks in here.”

                He blinked, lowering his arms. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” he knelt down to the padlock. He grabbed the key, attempting to pull it out... “Are you kidding me?” Link questioned, a little angry.

                “What’s up?” you leaned down.

                Agitated, Link shoved the padlock away and stood up, causing you to straighten up. He looked at you. “The key is stuck in the padlock. So if there are other locked doors, we’ll need to find other keys for them.”

                “That’s annoying…”

                Link nodded in agreement before grabbing a hold of the stone door. With a grunt, he barely pulled it up, making dirt fall off from the top of the door frame. Huh, apparently Link has super-human strength. He released the door, allowing it to slide all the way up, revealing the next room; a near-black room. Both you and Link stepped inside. You jumped when you heard the door shut behind you, leaving the two of in total darkness.

                You cupped your hands together and created a ball of light while Link pulled out a lantern and lit it. You released the ball of light, allowing the small pulsing sphere to hover around you. You and Link walked further in the room, making sure to stay on the stone tiles and not accidently step in quick sand.

                You rubbed your arms. “I don’t have a good feeling about this room…”

                “This whole place bothers me,” Link said with honesty in his voice. The two of you stopped once reaching the other end of the room, the door was blocked. “Great…”

                A chill ran up your spin when you heard a sound that resembled a rumbling. You turned around and you gasped in horror while your eyes widened at the sight of dozens of small skeletons brandishing spears approached both you and Link. There were two groups, each emerged from the left and right side of the room; effectively trapping you and Link.

                “Your intuition was right,” Link said as you heard him unsheathe his sword.

                You took the initiative a stepped forward. Your book released itself from its holster to float in front of you, opening to the page of a spell you need; fire. You took a deep breath as flames emerged in the palms of your hands. You brought them together and concentrated on adding more and more mana to the flames in your hands. With a cry, you unleashed the compressed flames onto the skeletons. Their shrieks were covered by the roar of the flames as the blazing heat ran through them, reaching the other end of the room before dispersing, although the room was a lot warmer now.

                You lowered your hands to your sides as you watched the skeletons crumble and explode in a black cloud, not even leaving ashes behind. Your tome closed itself before returning to its holster. You turned around to see Link staring at you with awe.

                “Lotus taught me that,” you said just as your ball of light went out.

                “In a week?!” Link shook his head. “You know what, now isn’t the time,” He jumped over a chasm of sand on your right. “When your fire lit up the room, I spotted two unlit torches on either side of the door,” he lowered his lantern onto the black torch in front of him, effectively lighting it up. “I think lighting both of them will unlock it.”

                “It’s worth a try,” you said as you walked to the left, silently thanking that there was no sand. You held a hand over the torch and ignited a small fire, effectively lighting it up. You stepped back and looked at the door. Just as Link predicted, the gate covering the stone door went up.

                You approached the door and waited for Link to open it. Just as before, Link lifted it a little before letting it go for it to open the rest of the way itself. You found it amazing how despite your time being so much advanced, this era had doors that could themselves. And they were made out of stone!

                “How are you so strong?” you questioned Link as the two of you entered a much larger chamber that was lit up by only a few torches.

                He shrugged. “Genetics? I don’t know,” he stared ahead. “That must be our way to the Mirror.”

                You looked ahead as well to see the two of you approaching a staircase leading up to a dark tunnel with four stone pillars, two on each side, lit up by blue flames. Nice.

                Nearing the center of the chamber, the two of you stopped. Your eyes widened as phantom-like creatures wearing white robes and carrying lanterns floated into the room. The lanterns as they did so. The ghosts each flew to a blue flame and swiped their lantern over it, catching the blue flames. Both you and Link gasped as a gate began to descend, blocking your progress.

                The four ghosts approached you and Link, making the swordsman pull out his sword and shield while your tome released itself from the holster to float next to you while you coated your hands in raw magical energy. You stood back-to-back with Link as the ghosts encircled and danced around your before three of them went off in different locations, leaving one behind.

                “Is it a Poe?” Link questioned as the ghost hovered away, lantern clinking.

                “This is different,” you answered then twisted to stare at Link. “Wait. You can’t see-”

                A ghostly wail cut you off, prompting you to focus your attention on the flame stealer. You lifted a hand to create a shield, making the ghost hit your shield and bounce off. You concentrated magic into your free had until you created an indigo ball. You threw the ball at the phantom, hitting it. The ghost released a haunting cry as it spun away, most likely from the force.

                 You chased after it, preparing another attack. If you were correct in assuming that Link can’t see the ghosts, then this might seem really confusing to him. The phantom recovered and saw you coming for it. It snarled and flew towards you. You created a ball of magic a little larger and stronger than the last one and threw it at your enemy once they were close enough.

                The ghost had no time to dodge and took the full brunt of the attack, falling on its back and a soul emerged. The soul looked strikingly similar to a Poe’s. You didn’t dwell on the thought for too long as you rushed forward to tear its soul out.

                Panting, you stepped away with a soul in hand as you watched the ghost wail, white smoke coming out of its sleeves, hood and lower part of its dress until nothing remained except for the dress and lantern. The flames within the lantern broke free and then flew off towards one of the stone pillars, lighting one up.

                You heard footsteps rush towards you. You turned around to look at Link just as Midna emerged from his shadow, although not in her shadow form.

                “Did you just fight that?” Link asked.

                “Yes, you couldn’t see it?” you responded with a question.

                Link shook his head. “All I could see were the floating lanterns…”

                Midna hummed, taking the soul from you. “Maybe you can see them in wolf form,” both you and Link looked at her just as you stopped using mana and your tome went back to the holster. “While Twilight covered Hyrule, Link and I couldn’t be seen by the people and we could only see floating blue flames. The people were spirits.”

                “Yes, you told us that the people became spirits,” you mentioned.

                Midna nodded. “Right. However, Link was able to see them using his senses as a wolf. So… if spirits can’t be seen normally by Link, then he could be able to as a wolf. Not to mention that if we want to find the other three Poes, Link needs to follow their scents.”

                “Their what?” Link asked in surprise.

                “Link followed his nose to find the village kids and that girl with amnesia so you’ll need to do the same,” Midna said as she took out the hourglass.

                Link sighed, accepting the task. Midna turned him into a wolf before mounting him. You stepped away from the Poe’s… corpse…? You didn’t want your scent to mix up with the ghost’s. Your wolf of a boyfriend started to sniff the dress, occasionally pawing at it. His ears perked up just as he quickly lifted his head.

                “You got something?” you asked.

                Link only wagged his tail in response. He trotted to the left side of the staircase with you following behind. He approached a small pile of sand before digging it up, revealing a metal handle. He picked it up in his mouth and pulled it back. There was a muffled noise, indicating he did something.

                You looked to the side to see the floor sliding down, revealing a staircase.

                “Nicely done,” you commented as Link reverted back to his human form and Midna returning to his shadow.

                “Come on, let’s go before the Poe decides to move elsewhere,” Link jogged to the staircase.

                You followed him, watching as he disappeared down the newly revealed staircase.

                But, you couldn’t follow him for long.

                Just as you stood at the top of the staircase, a black hole emerged directly under you, making you fall into it with a scream.

                Link whipped his head back as he heard his girlfriend scream. He ran back up the staircase, blue eyes darting around in search of her.

                Nothing.

                She was… gone.


	11. XI

“___!” Link called as he ran through the large room. His eyes darted around in search of ay sign for her. She screamed recently so she couldn’t have gone too far. Link grit his teeth in frustration.

                Midna emerged from his shadow. “Link…”

                The hylian turned to glare at the imp. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that it isn’t fair to direct his anger at someone who had nothing to with his girlfriend disappearing. “Yes Midna?” he asked after opening his eyes.

                “We just came in the dungeon,” she began. “I think she was taken further inside,” when Link wasn’t convinced Midna continued. “We’ll find her Link.”

                “I hope so,” Link answered quietly.

                Link walked back to the edge of the revealed stairwell. He took one more look around the large room before descending, hunting for the Poes and searching his girlfriend.

 

                The hole that appeared under you made fall onto a stone ramp. You rolled down the ramp, collecting dust and dirt as you went. Soon you reached the floor and didn’t stop your momentum until you hit a wall.

                The breath was knocked out of you as your back hit a wall, coming to a sudden stop. You gasped and coughed as you tried to regain your breathing. Although it was rather difficult with the dust you were inhaling.

                You sat up with your back against the wall as your regular breathing pattern slowly came back. Once you were calmly breathing again you looked around, seeing nothing but darkness. You created a ball of light before standing up. You looked at your surroundings; there was the ramp you rolled down in front of you and the walls were too close together which means you were standing in a tunnel. Considering that there weren’t any lamps or torches you can assume that these tunnels aren’t used by the monsters residing inside this prison.

                Now onto the important decision; which way do you go?

                You didn’t have to dwell on the decision for long as your ball of light developed a mind of its own and started flying to the left. Not having much other option you walked after it but the ball sped up, making you run after the ball.

                You ran through the seemingly endless corridor, putting your faith in a ball of magical energy that may just lead you to your death. Suddenly the ball stopped and hovered in place. You slowed and eventually stopped in front of it. You leaned over, placing your hands on your knees as you panted, once again trying to regain your breathing.

                The ball of light went out, leaving you in the dark and making you groan in frustration. You stood back up, making a mental note to ask Lotus to teach you how to make a longer lasting ball of light or at least one that is active indefinitely until the user decides they no longer need the ball.

                You cried out in surprise and jumped as the room you were in suddenly lit up. You looked around to see that you were in a large chamber with big stone torches lined up against the walls on the left and right. Oddly enough, the fire was indigo.

                You looked down to see you were standing on a decorative stone path that led to two small staircases. Was this some kind of ceremonial room?

                Having nothing else to do, you walked down the path, heading for the shrine/altar… thing. You didn’t know what to call it. You paused at the bottom of the stairs. You took a deep breath before ascending the first stair case and then the second.

                At the top of the second staircase, you came face to face with a stone carving on the wall. Or rather, a large stone tablet with an image at the center and the edges had a repeated design going across.

                You focused more on the carved image. The image showed a carving of hooded figure with their arms raised at an angle and “behind them” were a pair of large, clawed arms. Is this a carving of someone summoning a demon or monster? Maybe that’s what is lurking further within this prison.

                You were about to move when something below the tablet caught your eye. It was a couple of markings and the rest of it was covered in dirt, no doubt from age. You knelt down and as carefully as you could, you wiped away the dirt, revealing more markings. Once all the dirt was gone, it revealed what looked like a message written in an old and possibly dead language.

                Yet… you felt as if you spoke this language your entire life.

                _Magic is more than a tool to be used. It can become an extension of oneself._

                You looked back up at the image. The… the figure was using magic to create extra limbs? As cool as that looked, you couldn’t really think of a reason to use this kind of magic.

                Your attention was drawn elsewhere when you heard stone grinding against stone. You looked to the side to see part of the stone wall lower to the ground. Once the wall was fully in the floor, more torches lit up the next room, again using indigo fire.

                Was that where you needed to go next? You wondered as you stood up and descended both stair cases to head towards the new door that opened. You paused in front on a new doorway. It was another corridor. You stepped through and the stone slid closed behind you.

                No going back now. You wondered how Link was doing without you…

                Is he looking for you? Or did he go back to searching for the Poes? Maybe he’s doing both… You doubt Link would go on without finding anything of you even if he… just finds your… body.

                You swallowed at the thought but didn’t stop walking. Much like before, the corridor seemed to go endlessly but at least you would be able to walk at your own pace instead of being forced to run after your only source of light.

                You were led to another large empty chamber; except this room was circular with small metal torches dotted around to light up the room. You looked up and saw only blackness. The ceiling must be _really_ high up. You went back to looking back to inspect your surroundings as you walked to the center of the room.

                Before you could get there, violet smoke and fire came from the fire and headed towards the center in front of you. Up from it raised a figure created from the fire and smoke. Once they were fully formed, you inspected them more closely; their figure was shown to be that of a woman and they wore a hood… could they be the same person as the one shown on the carving?

                They walked towards you, not making a sound. You took a step back when they stood in front of you. They lifted their head and you could partially see beneath their hood; their eyes were what attracted your attention the most. They were a deep purple and small, indigo flames spilled out of them.  You couldn’t move and you couldn’t take your eyes off this ghost woman.

                She lifted a hand and lightly touched your forehead. As she drew her hand back, your vision blurred before you collapsed.

 

                When you opened your eyes again, you found yourself lying down on a smooth surface. You lifted your head and saw that you weren’t in the Arbiter Grounds but somewhere lighter and not claustrophobic. You stood up and looked around. You looked like you were standing on some sort circular arena made from marble and there were several stone pillars standing near edges of the arena. However… there wasn’t anything beyond the platform you were standing on, just… sky.

                You jumped lightly at the sudden appearance of the ghost woman. She stood several feet in front of you with her arms loosely crossed.

                _“You do not belong here.”_

                Her voice echoed all around you, sending shivers down your spine. Despite your discomfort, she continued.

                _“However you belong at the Hero’s side. Like the mage currently living now and those before her. The Hero’s curse is the Mage’s curse.”_

You swallowed. “What do you mean?”

                _“When evil arises in Hyrule, the Hero returns to save the Kingdom with the Mage by their side. In flesh or… in spirit. This time was supposed to be no different but due to unforeseen circumstances… a Mage who hasn’t been born yet is brought to me.”_

                Your eyes widened in surprise. She knows?!

                Her arms fell down to rest at her sides. _“Nevertheless… I will teach you a spell. It is rather advanced but as the Mage, you should have no problem picking it up.”_

                “Then… were you the one who separated Link and I?” you asked after determining she wasn’t a threat.

                _“Correct. There is no need to worry; you and the Hero will reunite after this little lesson. The chamber your body currently rests in in near a tunnel that leads to the colosseum of these grounds.”_

                “The mirror of Twilight!”

                She gave a single nod. _“Let’s get started then, shall we?”_

                You nodded and approached her.

                _“This spell conjures extra arms. They can be used as a shield, carry, lift or push heavy objects, bring you to places out of reach or as weapons,”_ after explaining the base of the spell, her arms were covered in purple magical energy. She pushed her arms back before bringing them back to her sides. Behind her, two large clawed arms formed and floated behind her. They were ready and waiting. _“This spell requires a lot of mana and it drains the longer it is in use. At your currently level, I recommend using this spell very rarely until you obtain a larger level of mana,”_ the arms disappeared. _“Now then, to teach you how to do this spell.”_

                Your… teacher began instructing by telling you to cover your arms in raw magic energy. You were already comfortable with covering your hands so spreading that wasn’t too difficult. Next you had to throw the magic behind you and focus on giving that magic shape which mentally links you to the arms. The arms could form anywhere near you but she said it would better behind you so then enemies couldn’t blindside you.

                Keeping the indigo energy on your arms, you took a deep breath before throwing your arms behind with sharp movement, releasing the magic. Next, you closed your eyes to focus on giving the magic shape, creating the link. You felt a momentary pain in your stomach, making you open your eyes. You fell to your hands and knees and took deep breaths as you stared at the ground.

                _“Is this the first time you are using spells that linger?”_ the ghost woman asked.

                You looked up at her, a little confused. Next, you felt as if something was being taken from you and leaving through your back. You looked over your shoulder and saw arms designed similarly to your temporary teacher’s.

                You stood up and stumbled a little. You inspected the arms; they just hovered in place and smoothly opened and closed their fists. The movements reminded you of a nicely done animation. That made the arms almost look… alive.

                _“For now there is no need to worry about mana depletion,”_ the ghost woman brought your attention back to her. _“But once you return to the real world, you will feel the effects of your mana draining. So be careful,”_ she walked to the side and platforms appeared above you. _“Try to use your newly formed arms to navigate up the platforms.”_

Looking up, you walked towards the nearest platform. You raised your left arm, which the magic arm mirror and hooked its fingers on the edge of the platform. You pulled your arm down quickly and you gasped when you felt your body being shot up. You staggered when you landed on the platform.

                Amazing!

                Smiling, you went from platform to platform soon landing back on the ground. You turned to face your teacher.

                _“As expected, the Mages learns quickly,”_ she said. _“Do no longer keep this spell going all you have to do is break your mental link.”_

Despite having never broken a “mental link,” somehow you knew what to do. With just a little focus, you longer felt your mana being drained. You looked over your shoulder to see the arms disappearing.

                _“Now that our little lesson is over, it is time for you to return,”_ your temporary teacher said. You looked back at her a little confused before your vision blurred and you collapsed again.

               

                Returning to consciousness, you noticed that you were back in the dark, dusty, cylindrical room. You lifted yourself up the ground. You stood up and took out your tome. It flipped open to a page that revealed thee new spell you learned. As you put the tome back in it holster, balls of indigo flames hot up from the torches and flew up. The fire lit up the torches on the wall, lighting the way up. Along the walls were stone platforms.

                Looks like you’ll need to use your new spell.

                Following instructions given to you, you covered your arms in raw magic energy before throwing the magic behind you to form the arms. Unlike in that dream-like area you were in, you started to feel your energy being drained. It wasn’t very noticeable but it was there.

                You looked up and went for the nearest platform. You pulled yourself up and traversed from platform to platform, slowly making your way up. You didn’t look down; knowing your nerves would get the best of you and you’ll begin to lose focus.

                You landed on a platform and staggered, suddenly overcome by a dizzy spell. You leaned against the wall and no longer used the magic arms. You panted as your vision slowly returned to normal. You felt more tired and your body felt heavy. Was this what it felt like when you were low on mana?

                You sat down and leaned back against the wall. Does mana return naturally…? It should considering that seems to be linked to your sudden exhaustion.

                Wait…

                You searched through your satchel and took out a bottle with green liquid swirling inside. Lotus said this would recover your mana. Carefully, you pulled the cork off the bottle. The last thing you wanted was to waste the potion and remain stuck here until your mana recovered naturally.

                You lifted the bottle to your nose and sniffed it. The potion smelled like strong herbs. Huh, how oddly fitting. You drank the potion, doing your best to not spit the potion out. It was incredibly bitter. Despite that, you drank the entire bottle of green potion. You pulled the bottle away from your move, impressed you managed to drink all of it. Putting the cork back on the bottle, you felt energy flood throughout your body, making you feel much more energized.

                After putting the bottle back into the satchel, you stood up and created the extra limbs again. You made your way up, feeling a lot better now than you did before. Soon enough, you reached a larger platform that led to a stone door similarly designed to the one you and Link walked through earlier.

                You didn’t have the strength to open it but maybe your magic arms do. You approached the door and used one of the magic arms to grab the door. You made the arm pull the door up. Much like with Link, the door barely opened dirt fell from the top and slid the rest of the way open. You dispersed the arms and stepped through, the door sliding closed behind you.

                You entered a dark corridor that was in fact a staircase. Small torches lined the walls, again, lit up with indigo flames. Does the fire have something to do with you? Is it because your magic energy colour is indigo?

                You ran up the stairs, taking two at a time at the reminder that the cylindrical room connected with a tunnel that led up to the Mirror of Twilight. You were going to see Midna and Link again!

                As you neared the top, the wall split open, making another doorway. You ran out and stopped… you entered another corridor. You felt like you were running around a maze now.

                You gasped when you heard what sounded like a gate opening. You turned to the left and saw a metal gate going up while a stone bridge came towards the entrance to the corridor. You jogged to entrance and stepped out of the corridor. You emerged into a giant indoor arena with a giant stone pillar at the center of the room. Standing at the center of that pillar was…

                “Link!” you cried out in surprise and ran across the stone bridge.

                The man cloaked in green turned to the sound of your voice. Without saying a word, he ran towards you. Upon meeting, Link pulled you into his arms, tightly embracing you.

                “Thank Farore…” Link said into your ear as he buried his face into your hair.

                “Link I’m dirty,” you said, resting your head on his shoulder. “You don’t want to bury your face in my hair.”

                “I don’t care,” Link pulled away and cupped your cheek. “I’m… I’m so relieved to see you. After seeing Zant I…”

                “Zant? You saw Zant?”

                Link nodded. “I thought he took you but he had no idea who you were when I demanded for you. And then he made me fight a skeletal behemoth.”

                “What?!” your hands flew all over him, checking his arms, head and torso. “You didn’t break any bones did you? No internal bleeding? Maybe-”

                Link cut you off with a kiss. “My thoughtful girlfriend left me a certain healing elixir. Anyway, we need to move on,” Link held your hand and dragged you behind him across the stone bridge and eventually outside, where it was still dark.

                You and Link emerged onto a blocked off stairway that encircled the outside of the grounds. You made your way up the staircase, leaping over holes, until you eventually emerged into the colosseum part of the Arbiter Grounds. There was a giant statue of a woman at the center of it with a flame cupped in her hand and a snake encircling her. There were also giant chains sticking into the ground.

                Was this were the Mirror of Twilight was?

                You and Link approached the statue when suddenly black slabs of rock stabbed into the ground around the statue and red glowed on them, creating a barrier around the statue. You looked up and saw five black monsters fall down from a red and black portal.

                Your tome hovered next to you as Link unsheathed his sword and brandished his shield. The humanoid-like monsters had awkward movements but you and Link managed to fight them off, leaving one left standing.

                The last monster let out a deafening roar that made you and Link freeze in place. The roar brought life back to the four monsters.

                “Looks like we’ll need to kill them all at once,” Link said. “Actually… let’s work together to take down three and kill the las two at the same time.”

                “Sounds like a plan,” you concentrated to create balls of magic energy strong enough to stun the monsters.

                Managing to dodge the attacks made by the monsters, one by one you and Link managed to defeat them until only two remained. You went for the monster to the left while Link went for the right. You grew a ball of magic in the palm of your right hand as you went for the monster. You ducked as it swiped at you and lunged towards it. You shoved the ball of magic energy into the creature’s chest, making it freeze. You heard Link’s monster let out a cry just as your monster’s chest imploded, a bit of indigo being made visible.

                You stepped away from the monster as it fell forward and exploded into little black squares and flew up. Your eyes followed them and saw a black and blue portal appear. You looked around and saw the other monsters gone as well. But more importantly, the barrier surrounding the statue was gone.

                “You might want to stand aside ___,” Link said, making you look at him. “It’s just a hunch but it would be better for you to stand a little bit further away.”

                You nodded. “Okay,” you turned around and returned to the entrance of the colosseum. Once there, you turned back around and watched as Link made his way up the statue using some sort of top.

                …where did he get that?

                He remained on top of the statue for several moments before you felt the ground shake. You looked around in alarm and watched as the statue sunk into the ground while something else was being pulled up. It was a giant slab of rock. In front of the rock slab was a platform. That must be where the mirror is.

                You approached the platform just as you saw Midna fly from Link and onto the platform. You and Link met up before stepping up onto the platform. There Midna knelt in front of something with her head down, defeated.

                Your eyes lifted up and saw a shard that made up a quarter on an entire thing. The Mirror of Twilight was broken.


	12. XII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! And I'm sorry about the delayed update... but, I will be discontinuing the story.  
> The reason is because writing this story... I don't get much enjoyment out of it now as I did before and that's not fair to be person who requested me to write it, who, might I add, has been more than patient with me.  
> I'm sorry, Luck+of+the+Irish+777, but you will have to find someone else, maybe a more talented writer, who will put the time and effort this story deserves. I still have the document of the plot of the story so I can send that to you for you to give to another writer.  
> If there is anyone who wants to continue; do so with Luck+of+the+Irish+777's blessing.  
> Thank you for taking the time to read this note and for understanding. I hope you enjoy this last chapter from me.
> 
> -Eevee_133

What can you do now? The Mirror of Twilight is broken, so there’s no way to enter the Twilight Realm… no way to get to Link.

                “Midna…?” Link cautiously called. The Twili moved her head, acknowledging Link calling her name. “Is there another way into the Twilight Realm? Maybe one of the Light Spirits know.”

                Midna shook her head before standing up, “The Light Spirits can repel Twilight. I doubt they can make a portal going directly to my home…” she trailed off looked up, her eye opening wide and her jaw dropping in a gasp.

                You followed Midna’s gaze to see six glowing white spirits, each one standing on one of the stone pillars, leaving one empty, “You can see them too, right?” you questioned Link.

                “Yes,” he answered.

                _“A dark entity lurks in the twilight…”_ one spirit said. _“It houses an evil power…”_

                _“You who are guided by fate… You who possess the crest of the goddesses… Hear us.”_

You turned to Link; he is the only one among your trio who is chosen by the goddesses. He was listening attentively to the spirits, anything to help him on this quest. You looked back towards the spirits to listen to them further.

                _“At the command of the goddesses, we sages have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times.”_

                “But the mirror is broken,” you interjected. “What happened? Why did you let someone shatter it?”

                _“The Mirror of Twilight has been fragmented by mighty magic.”_

                _“That magic is a dark power that only he possesses…”_

_“His name is… Ganondorf.”_

Your eyes opened wide as you gasped in surprise and shock, “N-no… that… that can’t be true…”

                “___?” Link called. “What do you mean by that?”

                You looked at Link and swallowed the lump in your throat, “Ganondorf is… the best way I describe is he’s evil incarnate. Sometimes he’s a man, others times a demon, a monster… someone out to claim for himself and drown the world in darkness while he’s at it. He’s ruthless, lusting for power and… and filled with pure malice. There are even stories where he has the Triforce of Power. But…” you pressed a hand to your forehead and looked elsewhere in the colosseum. “I always just thought he was a monster of legend… the antagonist of a story where he threatens the peace and a hero… comes along to…” you lowered your hand and slowly looked at Link. “…defeat him…” you shook your head. “No… no, no, no!”

                “___...” Link said, taking a hold of your upper arms. “This is something I have to do.”

                “But…” you bit your tongue to prevent yourself from speaking further. You sighed. “Why does it have to be you…?” you looked at the Mirror of Twilight and then gently removed Link’s grip on you to look up at the sages. “Was Ganondorf the one who destroyed the mirror?”

                _“Ganondrf’s power is great and evil but he is not the one who destroyed it.”_

_“Perhaps that evil power has been passed on to Zant…”_

“You’re just now figuring that out Zant got his power?” Midna asked dejectedly. “It’s far too late…”

                _“Only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight… so Zant could merely break it into pieces.”_

_“Once broken by magic, the Mirror of Twilight became fragments, which even now lie hidden across the land of Hyrule.”_

_“One is in the snowy mountains heights…”_

_“One is in an ancient grove…”_

_“And one is in the heavens…”_

In your peripheral, you saw Midna float up to rest her hands on Link’s shoulder as the sages continued to speak.

                _“You who have been sent by the goddesses… You should be able to gather the three pieces…”_

_“But you must be prepared, for a dangerous power resides in those fragments…”_

With that, the sages slowly vanished. You looked at Link and Midna to see the two of them nodding to each other.

                “Where should we start?” you questioned.

                “The first place the sages mentioned was “snowy mountain heights”,” Midna said as she moved away from Link to look at you both. “That must mean on the top of Snowpeak Mountain.”

                “Hmm…” you crossed your arms in thought. “That’s going to be difficult to climb.”

                “Constant blizzards, right?” Link guessed.

                You nodded, “And if a fragment of the Mirror of Twilight is up there, it could have an influence on the weather. I mean, it’ll just get worse.”

                “Let’s go see Telma,” Link suggested. “Ashei said she grew up in the mountains so she could definitely help us with climbing Snowpeak.”

                “But before that…” you gestured between you and Link. “I’d like to take a bath; I’m really dirty.”

                “That’s what happens when you spend a day in the dessert and go through a filthy dungeon,” Midna said and took out the hourglass that changes Link from human to wolf and vice-versa. “Where are we going?”

                “Let’s go to Castle Town and stay at an inn for the night,” Link said. “After we meet with Telma and Ashei, we’ll go to Kakariko Village to make preparations to travel up Snowpeak.”

                “Alright,” Midna changed Link into a wolf. Once Link was fully formed, Midna mounted him.

                Both you and Link froze as black squares flew off and headed into the sky.

                Soon enough, you and Link formed in front of the gates leading to Hyrule Castle Town. You staggered a bit when you were able to move but you didn’t fall over this time.

                “Okay…” you said with a small sigh and blinked as you straightened. “I’ll get used to this eventually.”

                Midna turned Link back into human and he spoke to you, “I’m sure you will. Come on, hopefully there’s an inn open this late that’ll accept us.”

                “What time is it anyway? How long were we in the Arbiter Grounds?” you wondered aloud as the two of you headed for the large wooden doors. “It might be the next day…”

                “I don’t feel exhausted…” Link stated. “And after everything I went through in the Arbiter Grounds, it should have taken a lot out of me.”

                “Hmm…” you hummed. “It could be the same situation as the time you were getting the Master Sword. You said you were gone for a day, maybe an afternoon at most, while I experienced a week.”

                “It could be the influence of the Mirror of Twilight… one of the fragments is in the ancient grove,” Link offered as he pushed one of the heavy wooden doors open. “Magic is practically limitless.”

                “Considering that the two of us travelled through time, I would have to agree,” you reached over to hold Link’s hand as walked through the lightly populated streets of Castle Town. “I guess the sun hasn’t set not too long ago…”

                “Perfect,” Link tugged you towards a building, an inn, you expected.

                “Fingers crossed it isn’t haunted…” you said as the two of you entered the building.

                “In this time period? No… we’ll have to have a century or two,” Link responded as you two walked towards a bar of sorts to speak to the person behind it.

                You and Link managed to get a room for the night as well as bath which you were incredibly grateful, you did _not_ like having sand in places it had no business being. Despite having an option to wash yourself, you didn’t have the option to have to wash your clothes… and you didn’t have a change of them.

                “Note to self; bring a change of clothes,” you said aloud as you sat in front of Link in the wooden tub filled with lukewarm water. You and Link were comfortable with one another and have taken showers together, so bathes weren’t a problem.

                “At least we won’t be going back to the desert after,” Link offered.

                “No… we’ll only be going back after we find all the shards,” you leaned back against Link’s chest with a sigh. “I hope Link is okay…”

                Link wrapped his arms around you to hug before gently kissing the side of your head, “I’m still here… I’m sure he’s fine.”

                Right… your Link is the descendent of this era’s Link. As long as that Link’s alive, yours will be too.

                You shuddered in Link’s arms, making loosen his grip on you as you moved forward to sit away from him. The thought of Link disappearing suddenly… that was an unnerving thought.

                “I think I’m ready to go to sleep,” you announced and stood up, causing the now dirty water to slosh around underneath you. After stepping out of the tub, you turned around to look at your hylian boyfriend. “Sorry… I just had an unpleasant thought and… I’d honestly rather forget about it quickly.”

                “You know you can always talk to me,” Link offered and shifted to the edge of the tub to rest his arms on the rim as he looked up at you.

                You sighed and knelt down in front of him, “What if you suddenly disappear because your ancestor was killed?”

                Link stared at you for a moment before reaching a hand out to cup your cheek. He gently rubbed the soft skin of your cheek, “That won’t happen.”

                You reached a hand up to grab a hold of his hand and gently squeezed, “How can you be so sure?”

                “If I really am the Hero chosen by the Goddesses; I’ll be born again, even if my ancestor is killed.”

                Doubt still resided within you but… the look on Link’s face and his vocal response made you feel otherwise. He had some sort of ability to make you and the people around him feel better, even if only a little.

                You smiled softly at Link, “Okay, I trust you.”

                “Good,” he smiled at you briefly before drawing into a slow and sweet kiss.

 

                The following morning, Link woke you up and you heard the muffled sound of commotion outside. Link assured you saying it was just the hustle and bustle of Hyrule Castle Town residents. You cringed as you got dressed in your clothes from the day before.

                In accordance to Link’s plan, the two of made your way to Telma’s Bar. Upon entering, the scent of food filled your nostrils and your stomach grumbled; you were hungry.

                At the bar stood a woman talking to Telma with a book in a holster hanging off her hip. The book was thicker than yours and had an orange gem; Lotus.

                “Lotus!” you said in surprise as you approached her and Telma.

                The two women stopped speaking and turned their attention towards you and Link.

                “I don’t get a greeting too? I’m hurt…” Telma said in playful tone.

                “Hi Telma,” Link greeted.

                “I’m glad to see the two of you are alright,” Lotus began. “From the state of your attire, I can assume your trip to the Gerudo Desert was eventful.”

                “It was. We’re looking for Ashei, is she here?”

                “Ashei went up to Hyrule’s northern mountain, honey,” Telma answered. “She has good instincts so no doubt she went up to check on things.”

                You and Link shared a look. What a coincident, that’s where the two of you need to go.

                “How do we get there?” you asked as the two of you turned back to Ashei and Telma.

                “Zora’s Domain has a tunnel leading to the base of Snowpeak,” Lotus answered before tapping the point of her foot on her shadow. Does Midna have a way to the Domain…? “If the two of you have business on that mountain, come to Kakariko, I have something that can help ___ travel through the snow… as well as a new spell to teach. The spell can help you see through blizzards, thick smoke or fog,” she gave Telma a nod of farewell before leaving.

                “Give ___ a way to travel through snow…?” Telma wondered aloud. “Hmm… I guess that means honey has his own way. Anyway, you two must be hungry, what can I get you?”

 

                After eating a delicious meal prepared by Telma, you and Link were ready to continue your journey. But before that, Link tried to pay her but the red-haired woman brushed him off, insisting it was on the house.

                Upon warping to Kakariko Village, Link trotted into a nearby cave to turn back into human. You spotted Epona at the Spirit Spring. Either she made her way back from Hyrule Castle Town or Lotus brought her.

                Speaking of your past self; has she come back yet?

                “Ready to go?” Link’s sudden appearance made you jump.

                When you nodded, the two of you made your way to Lotus’ house. Seeing as it was rude to suddenly enter-

                Link opened the door and went in.

                …or you two can enter at your leisure instead of knocking before entering.

                With a sigh, you followed after your boyfriend.

                After closing the door behind you, you spotted Lotus digging through what looked like a chest of clothing while Link stood to the side. You were given little time to react when she suddenly threw clothes at you, hitting you in the face.

                “Get changed,” you heard Lotus say as pulled what you identified as tights, a tunic and a long-sleeved shirt down to hold in your arms.

                Grateful and ecstatic for the new clothing, you obeyed without a word and left to get dressed.

 

                Link’s gaze briefly followed ___’s form before it returned to Lotus. She pulled out a couple more pants, tights and boots before pausing.

                “There you are…” she said as took out a pair leather boots lined with fur and had steel attached to the bottom. She flipped the boots over and Link spotted spikes protruding out of where the metal was. “Ta-Da, boots to travel across snow for your lady love,” she looked up at Link.

                “Do you have something for me?” Link asked.

                Lotus stood up, boots in hand, “If I had the time, I would have a blacksmith in Castle Town make a pair for you. However, you can turn into a wolf, so you can travel across snow with little to no problem.”

                “You said there was entry to the northern region of Hyrule through Zora’s Domain. How… do I get there?”

                Midna emerged from Link’s shadow to answer, “I can warp us there, no problem.”

                “That reminds me… why do you need to go to Snowpeak? Isn’t the Mirror of Twilight in the Desert? Unless…”

                Midna’s mood saddened and she looked down as Link went quiet as well.

                “The mirror…” Midna began and looked up to gaze at Lotus. “It… it was broken into four pieces.”

                Lotus’ mouth dropped in surprise before it closed. She walked towards a nearby table to place the boots on it, “…I see,” she looked back at Midna and Link. She took a deep breath, “Then… my Link is still missing?”

                “He’s in Twilight Realm,” Link confirmed as Midna flew towards Lotus.

                “We’ll get him back and defeat Zant once we get the other shards,” the twili assured her. “The first one is up on Snowpeak, that’s why we’re going there.”

                Lotus was quiet for a few moments, “If you’re going to break something, might as well put the pieces in places that are difficult or impossible to reach.”

                Their attention was directed elsewhere when they heard footsteps approaching. ___ walked towards them with her dirty clothes in her arms. She paused, sensing the heavy atmosphere, “Did I walk in at a bad time?”

                “I’m just worried about Link,” Lotus answered and sighed before slightly perking up. “My emotions shouldn’t burden you,” she grabbed the snow boots. “Here, boots made to walk across snow.”

                As ___ and Lotus exchanged the items in their arms, Link felt Midna tug on his tunic. He looked at the twili imp.

                “While Lotus is going to teach ___ that new spell, we’ll go on ahead and meet up with Ashei,” she said. “We can come back for her after.”

                Link nodded, “That’s if Ashei didn’t move too far ahead,” he turned away from Midna to approach the two girls. “___?”

                “What’s up?” she asked, fur snow boots in hand.

                “Midna and I are going to meet up with Ashei, gather some information,” Link answered and rubbed her arm. “We’ll come back after.”

                She nodded, “Okay, be careful,” she kissed Link.

                Link nodded and Midna returned to his shadow before he exited the house.

                “Alright Midna, warp us to Zora’s Domain,” Link said.

                Midna emerged from Link’s shadow in shadowed form, “You can’t transform with people able to see you! You’ll cause a panic. Go somewhere without any witnesses before asking to transform or warp.”

                “That makes a lot of sense. I should have thought about that before,” Link mused as Midna returned to his shadow.

                Link walked back to the cave next to the spring before asking to warp. The progress went as normal; Midna turns Link into a wolf, she mounts him before the two go somewhere.

                The few times Link warped, he noticed that he landed on solid ground. This time however; Link fell into water.

                Overcoming his surprise, he paddled towards the edge of what looked like a pool and pulled himself out. He shook to get all the water out of his fur before looking at his surroundings… He only had one word to describe it; beautiful. Stone carved architecture, a cool atmosphere accompanied by cool, soft colors… Link could definitely stay here for some time and have ___ with him too. Hmm… maybe he should propose to her here-

                A tug on Link’s ear brought him out of his thoughts.

                “We have somewhere to go wolf boy,” Midna chastised and released her grip on his ear.

                Link growled lightly before trotting off, following the flow of water and passed several elegant and beautiful fish-like humanoids. Zoras, he guessed. Soon enough, he found himself at the edge of a cliff next to a waterfall. He looked over…

                Yeah, there’s no way he’s jumping down.

                He searched for another way down that didn’t involve jumping off a cliff and into a body of water. It didn’t take long for him to find one. It wasn’t a set of stairs or a ladder but rather natural rock platforms pocking out of the stone wall.

                With Midna’s help, Link made his way down to the pool of water the waterfall led to. It took a bit of time but it well worth it. After all, Link didn’t die or get seriously injured.

                He found the tunnel leading the Snowpeak thanks to a Zora guard standing next to the round entrance. He walked into the tunnel far enough for the Zoras to not be able to see him transform. Once he was human, he continued his trek, noticing the surrounding area get colder and colder.

                Several minutes passed by before he finally emerged to see someone wearing a white fur cloak and what he guessed was a hood standing the edge of a small cliff. The cliff overlooked a lake covered in thick pieces of ice that led to the base of a mountain hidden behind a blizzard.

                The figure took notice of Link and turned around. The hood Link assumed they were wearing a sort of fur helmet or mask that looked like some kind of snow beast.

                “Link,” the muffled voice greeted. Hands covered by familiar looking metal gauntlets emerged from the fur cloak to grab the mask. The person pulled it off to reveal Ashei. She shook her head lightly before placing her mask on her hip.

                “Hello Ashei,” Link greeted. “Telma mentioned you were here.”

                “Has she?” Ashei asked. “Hmm… Then you were looking for me?”

                “Yes… There’s something at the top of this mountain I need and I was hoping to get some help from you.”

                “Is that so? Are you looking for the beast that lives on this mountain? It’s been seen frequently in Zora’s Domain.”

                Beast? Hopefully the mirror shard hasn’t corrupted it and made it injure, kidnap or kill any of the Zoras…

                “I was curious about it, so I came and waited… and as they’d said, a giant appeared!”

                Link looked back at the tunnel he came from. The beast couldn’t be _that_ big… unless it scaled the mountain side to get in and out of Zora’s Domain.

                “It looked like this,” Link heard Ashei say and he turned back to her to see her holding a folded sheet of parchment towards him.

                Link accepted the sheet and unfolded it too reveal the drawing of some sort of creature holding a red fish. The picture looks like it was drawn quickly so he can’t be too sure. The beast came down for fish? Maybe it’s running out of food so it came down here? Does the shard have anything to do with it?

                Folding it and putting the drawing in his pouch, Link looked back at Ashei, “Thank you for this.”

                Ashei shrugged, “Apparently, this thing’s been stealing red fish from the village. I want to investigate further but I can’t see a path through this blizzard… I sure could use ___, no wait, its Lotus yeah? I’m sure you’re because you’re curious about the mountain, but you’d best not go without a plan.”

                Link nodded, “I know.”

                Seeing as Ashei was going to remain where she’s standing, Link returned to the village to hopefully get some more information. If Link could find ghosts spread throughout an entire dungeon, maybe he can also find a way through the blizzard by following the scent of the same kind of fish the beast has.

                Upon returning, Link approached the nearest Zora and showed them Ashei’s sketch.

                They recognized the beast as “The Beast of Snowpeak” and the fish it was holding was called reekfish.

                “Ah… So the beast has been showing itself because it’s been catching reekfish…” the Zora guard continued. “We didn’t think that anyone besides Prince Ralis was capable of catching this type of fish!”

                “Prince Ralis?” Link echoed as he stowed away the drawing. “Where is he?”

                “Last I heard he was recovering at Kakariko village…”

                Perfect; hit two birds with one stone; get his girlfriend and talk to the zora able to catch this one type of fish. Hopefully ___ learned that new spell once Link gets back…


End file.
